arkadi-cloud

New Years Reflection 2023

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:09:43 +0800

reflection on 2023

I don’t often blog about personal things, but lately I’ve felt the desire to put ‘pen to paper’ in this very busy year. As I age, time seems to move faster or at least the way I experience time. When I was in high school, everyday felt like a eternity of time allowing me to play, read, and listen to music as i get older time is getting more precious.

fell into gaming (again)

A member of my family died last year which meant I was bequeathed their laptop. As I am trying to save the planet (and am also a cheap ass), this laptop i inherited was way faster and newer than the one i had been using. I noticed a few older games on Steam for very cheap and thought, why not?

Games I played this year:

Black Mesa
Half-Life SUPERSCRIPT
Left 4 Dead 2
Half-life Episode 1
Half-Life Episode 2
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus
Dying Light
Dead Island

I have been picking up games that are 5-10 years old for $100-150 NTD. I had been out of gaming for a long time. I was what would call a gamer (nerd) in high school and university but then stopped gaming when I became an Apple Mac user for a time.

I forgot how fun gaming is! It’s great to immerse yourselves in a good game. A good game can sometimes be as good as a good book.

kept reading

I was busy with improving myself with higher education over the past 9 months, so that ate into my reading time. I also got back into gaming and podcasts which ate up time, too.

Read about my books here Reading Challenge 2023

the year of podcasts

This has really been the year of podcasts for me. I’m not sure when I got back into them, but podcasts are now my constant companion. I listen to podcasts while I mark homework, do the dishes, and ride my bike. For me, they replace reading news websites. I also listen to podcasts about history, true crime, and linux news. I am always on the lookout for new podcasts, so please share your favourites on Mastodon!

My favorite podcasts:

American Prestige ¹
LINUX Unplugged
The Intelligence from The Economist
ChinaTalk
Hard Fork

This year ² you played 108 hours of podcasts from 26 different podcasts.

news years resolutions suck but…

New years resolutions suck but I will try to make some goals of things I’d like to do more or less of this year.

Increase ++

Read more books during my workday - lunchtime or other times.
Bike or walk more frequently during the week.
Blog more about books, life, gaming, or podcasts.

Decrease –

Snacking after dinner during the week!
Worrying about things like how much I read or blog.

I’m not sure how this is calculated, maybe by hours listened? ↩︎
I think this stat is only calculated within Antennapod. I got a new phone a few months ago, so this stat is not for the whole year. Wow! ↩︎

Runtipi.io Home server manager

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 13:49:45 +0000

I’m a huge supporter of Yunohost as a self-hosting system for newbies and have been using it for years. I have grown in my knowledge of linux, and self-hosting. I have gotten really interested in containerization. I have been looking for a way to run my server with docker.

I want to have my operating system separated from apps and data. I have this sort of separation on my laptops by running Silverblue, but I don’t have it on my servers.

Someone on Mastodon suggested I look into Runtipi.io. After playing with it for a few days, this looks like it could be my replacement for Yunohost.

Features

Two-factor authentication
App store with docker apps
Web UI to install apps
Traefik built in reverse proxy
Web UI to make apps public (‘expose’ apps)

Web UI

Dashboard: The dashboard shows 3 live tiles: Disk Space, CPU Load, and Memory Used. The Memory Used tile seems to be broken for me. I’m using 700MB of RAM according to htop but it says I’m using 100% of my memory (1 GB).
Look and Feel: clean, modern, uncluttered. This won’t overwhelm a newbie. I think if you want some of the advanced features you need to hit the command line and edit JSON files. This is something that is perfectly fine to hide from most users!
My Apps: Shows you the installed apps. Each app tile even has a blinking green indicator to tell you it is ‘up’ and functioning.
App-Store: before installing an app, you can look at the Base Info which tells you the version it is, the port it will be running at and what architectures it supports. In the Description it list very important information like the folder information. It shows you where the files are stores on the root system, and in the container.
Settings: Very minimal. It’s just the essentials. You can set the DNS, domain name, internal IP, and setup 2FA.

Folder Structure

This folder structure is very organized. It looks like by default it will keep app-data in the app-data folder. I like it! It looks like it is easy to backup the system.

$ tree -L 3
── runtipi
    ├── VERSION
    ├── app-data
    │   └── calibre-web
    ├── apps
    │   └── calibre-web
    ├── data
    │   ├── postgres
    │   └── redis
    ├── docker-compose.yml
    ├── logs
    │   ├── app.log
    │   ├── app.log.history
    │   ├── error.log
    │   └── error.log.history
    ├── media
    │   ├── data
    │   ├── downloads
    │   ├── torrents
    │   └── usenet
    ├── repos
    │   └── 29ca930bfdaffa1dfabf5726336380ede7066bc53297e3c0c868b27c97282903
    ├── runtipi-cli
    ├── state
    │   ├── seed
    │   ├── settings.json
    │   └── system-info.json
    ├── traefik
    │   ├── dynamic
    │   ├── shared
    │   ├── tls
    │   └── traefik.yml
    └── user-config

Ram Usage:

With htop, it is idling at 701 MB. This is definitely something you cannot run on a 1 GB RAM VPS. It is understandable why the system requirements for Runtipi are set at 4GB RAM minimum.

Features to Investigate In the Future

Storage Path: The default path is at /home/$USER/runtipi but it looks like you can separate the data path to be somewhere else. This might be useful for me to keep data on my RAID10 external drives and the rest of the Runtipi files on the main drive.

With the default location my calibre-web data is at ~/runtipi/app-data/calibre-web. I would probably want to move this to /mnt/RAID

Local Domain: In Settings it shows you the local domain it has setup as http://tipi.lan. If you install apps, they will be accessible at app-name.tipi.lan. This would be awesome to run a server over Tailscale. I can’t actually access tipi.lan in the web browser though. Maybe I need to setup the Local SSL Certificate?

Installing Apps not In App store: Can I easily integrate apps not in the appstore into Tipi? At least get Traefik to expose them and get an SSL cert?

Conclusion

This looks like a great homeserver management system. It is mostly run with docker containers. It is easy to setup. It’s clean. It looks great.

I can’t investigate things much further without getting it on a server with at least 4GB of RAM. I might move my VPS to this if I can figure out how migrate gotosocial to this.

I will keep testing this out and see how this project develops. I’m very excited about this!

Reading Challenge 2023

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 02:05:34 +0000

I read 70 books in 2023. I’m proud, as always, with the variety of books I’ve read but this was a disappointing year for the quantity I read.

I didn’t read as much this year because I’ve had a busy year. I finished a 9 month higher education course, studied for and taken 2 Praxis tests¹. I have also started playing video games more frequently and even finished some games this year. I watched more movies and TV shows this year because of my wholehearted embrace of Jellyfin. Just this past week, I even got a Jellyfin client installed on my ‘smart TV’.²

Another major change in my reading life this year was how I track books I’ve read. I used an XLSX spreadsheet file since the time I quit Goodreads a few years ago. I was introduced to Obsidian this year, and the beauty of Markdown this year for notetaking. Once I learned you can make tables in Markdown, the choice was clear. I started tracking the books I’ve read in Obsidian. I converted my XLSX spreadsheet to markdown pages in my Obsidian vault. I haven’t looked back since!

Something that I’m getting more comfortable with is giving up on books I don’t like. I started but didn’t finish two books this year which is not normal for me.³ I used to be very adamant that I finish every book I start. I’ve softened this personal rule this year. As I have grown older, I realize life is too short to slog through a book that doesn’t excite me. There are many more books out there than I will ever be able to read in my lifetime, so I need to read only the best and most interesting books.

Sadly, I didn’t write as many book reviews this year but I will challenge myself to try to write more next year. I won’t force myself to write book reviews of all the books I read, but I particularly want to write more reviews of the most amazing books I read, or the ones that really touch my soul in some way.

Enough of all that, let’s get to the book list but before I do, were there any good books I’ve missed this year? If you follow me on the fediverse, please let me know.

Also, please do share your own book lists. What did you read this year? What were the best books? What were the worst?

Books I’ve Read in 2023

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Sea of Tranquility	Emily St. John Mandel
2	Leviathan, or The Whale	Philip Hoare
3	The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security	Kevin D. Mitnick
4	The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland in the Long Twentieth Century	Yunte Huang
5	Babel	R.F. Kuang
6	When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold	Alia Trabucco Zerán
7	The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962-1976	Frank Dikötter
8	Double Star	Robert A. Heinlein
9	The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017	Charles Yu, Editor
10	I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad	Souad Mekhennet
11	The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet	Becky Chambers
12	Valis	Philip K. Dick
13	Foreigner	C.J. Cherryh
14	Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency	Andy Greenberg
15	Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers	Andy Greenberg
16	Boulder	Eva Baltasar
17	Whale	Cheon Myeong-kwan
18	Time Shelter	Georgi Gospodinov
19	Golden Age Detective Stories	Otto Penzler
20	The Gospel According to the New World	Maryse Condé
21	Ninth Building	Zou Jingzhi
22	Spy Family 1	Tatsuya Endo
23	~~Economics – The User Guide~~	Ha-Joon Chang
24	Primer	Jenifer Muro
25	Spy Family 2	Tatsuya Endo
26	Spy Family 3	Tatsuya Endo
27	Still Born	Guadalupe Nettel
28	The Underground Village	Kang Kyeong-ae
29	City of Dragons: The Awakening Story	Jaimal Yogis, Vivian Truong
30	I Survived The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912	Lauren Tarshis
31	The Puppet Show	M. W. Craven
32	Black Summer	M. W. Craven
33	The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps	Otto Penzler
34	The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder	David Grann
35	All the Names	José Saramago
36	Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries	Otto Penzler
37	The Case of the Baited Hook	Erle Stanley Gardner
38	The Unsuspected	Charlotte Armstrong
40	Radicalized	Cory Doctorow
41	Vultures in the Sky	Todd Downing
42	The Case of the Careless Kitten	Erle Stanley Gardner
43	The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan	Stuart Palmer
44	Cat’s Paw	Roger Scarlett
45	M Train	Patti Smith
46	The Concert	Ismail Kadare
47	~~Entrapment and Other Writings~~	Nelson Algren
48	The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone	Edward Dolnick
49	The Greatest Russian Stories of Crime and Suspense	Otto Penzler
50	The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World	Edward Dolnick
51	Burning Chrome	William Gibson
52	Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter	Marcus Sedgwick
53	The Odor of Violets	Baynard Kendrick
54	Empire of the Sums: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator	Keith Houston
55	My Gun is Quick	Mickey Spillane
56	City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire	Roger Crowley
57	Varmints	Andy Hirsch
58	The Bellamy Trial	Frances Noyes Hart
59	Pashmina	Nidhi Chanani
60	A Study in Brimstone (Warlock Holmes #1)	G.S. Denning
61	The Wall	Mary Roberst Rinehart
62	Aster and the Accidental Magic	Thom Pico
63	They Called Us Enemy	George Takei
64	The Best of Young Spanish Language Novelists (Granta 155)	Valeries Miles (editor)
65	The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires	Tim Wu
66	Shift	Hugh Howey
67	Wool	Hugh Howey
67	Dust	Hugh Howey
68	Covenant of Water	Abraham Verghese
69	Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land	Jacob Mikanowski
70	Praxis II Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects (5001) Exam Secrets Study Guide	Mometrix Test Preparation
71	G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century⁴	Beverly Gage
72	The Word for World Is Forest	Ursula K. Le Guin

I’ve only taken one so far but am in the middle of studying for the next one I’m writing at the end of the month. ↩︎
I used the docker container at https://github.com/Georift/install-jellyfin-tizen. Once I got the TV and my computer running on the same network, it was very easy. It seems to be easiest if both the TV and the computer are on a wifi network for some explainable reason. ↩︎
I didn’t finish Economics: The User Guide (#23), and Entrapment and Other Writings (#47) on my list this year. Economics was interesting but just dry. It was like reading an encyclopedia about economics. It was funny at times but a slog. I learned interesting things but it wasn’t exciting to read. Entrapment started off well, but then some of the stories had this weird slang. It reminded me of Clockwork Orange. I just couldn’t bring myself to understand it. I think I might just have to skip over those stories and see if the others are any better. ↩︎
Not finished this yet, but am more than 50% done, so I’ll count it. It’s my list. I make the rules! ↩︎

Dying Light & The Following DLC

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 05:34:20 +0000

Dying Light

Since inheriting a laptop that is new, or at least not from 2015, I have started to get into gaming. I pick up games when they are about $100-200 NT ($5 USD) on sale on Steam. Of course, I can only buy games that are about 5-8 years old to play on my new (2020) laptop without a dedicated GPU.

I stumbled on the game Dying Light and Dying Light: The Following and I’m glad that I did. It is such a satisfying zombie exploration game. Even though, I’ve now “finished” the campaigns in both games, I will still keep playing to do more exploring and finish more side quests.

Tech Notes

It’s a Linux native game but I was crashing on me after an hour of playtime, so I switched over to Proton emulation. It is way more stable and doesn’t crash.

My system runs it well at the default settings it detects for my system.

ASUS VivoBook X415EA (2020)

11th gen Intel i5-113G7 (8 cores) @ 4.2 GHz
Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2)
512 GB SSD HD
16 GB RAM

Story

You are a government agent for the GRE that parachutes into a quarantined city, Harran. Your mission is to find out what’s happening and find out more about antezin. Eventually as you befriend locals, and help them out, you switch sides and try to stop the GRE from bombing the whole city into rubble. You are working with the people to find a cure and save Harran.

Gameplay

When you first play, you are so weak and have few skills or weapons, it is quite terrifying to move around the city. You mostly have to stick to the roofs and not attack zombies lest you easily get overwhelmed. You have parkour abilities - the ability to climb, and jump through the city. As you do missions, jump around the city, and kill zombies, you will gain skills. There are agility, survivor, and power skills. They make your character stronger, faster, and can even give him new abilities.

Weapons

Weapons in the game are mostly of the melee style, as the sound that guns make attract a lot of zombie attention. This means you get to bash in zombie heads with baseball bats, wrenches, knives, swords, katanas, or even your fists. Your weapons do degrade after being used, and can only be repaired a certain number of times. This means you have to keep searching for weapons, and upgrade your weapons. This crafting is a major portion of the game

Crafting

As you move through the city and loot things, screws, string, alcohol, you can use these things to create a weapon. For example, you might have a blueprint to make a baseball bat with spikes in it.

Your character has the knowledge how to make certain things, by having a ‘blueprint’. There are basic things Crane, your character, knows from the beginning such as how to make lockpicks, and medkits. You will find many more blueprints if you explore the city.

You can also upgrade your weapons with upgrade kits. These help improve the attack, handling, and durability stats of your weapon.

In the beginning your weapon, maybe a rusty pipe, is so weak. It might only do 50 damage. By the end of the game, you might have a katana that does fire and electric damage. It can do about 1200 damage. This is when you can start slicing heads off or even cutting the biters in half like a sushi roll.

Moving Around

It is incredible how large the city is and how many places you can explore. There are supermarkets, basements, caves, tunnels, and radio towers. It is a wide open word that reminds me of the fun I had exploring Grand Theft Auto III and Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. You can just follow the main storyline, but you will miss out on a lot if you don’t explore.

There are lots of funny people to interact with. Some will even give you quests where they reward you with blueprints, cash, or items. I did a lot of side quests for a lot of people in Harran and leveled up my character a lot.

Old Town

Near the later part of the game, you can go to Old Town. It is where the infection started. The zombies are faster, and there are more of them. There are more survivors here. There are lots of tall buildings like clock towers, and the university.

The Following

The Following is sort of the sequel to Dying Light. It came out as a DLC. It was included in the Dying Light version I bought on steam.

The Following takes place in like the countryside around Harran. There is wide open space here. There are farms, a dam, mountains, and lakes. The buildings are few and far between, so you need to use your dune buggy. That’s right, you get a vehicle. Slashing and hacking at zombies with your sword is just as satisfying as running them over.

The story in the countryside is that there is a group of people, The Faceless, that have a cure for zombies? It seems to be some sort of cult. They follow The Mother. The whole storyline here is to do tasks for people until The Faceless notice you and then trust you. Once they trust you, you can get deeper and deeper into the cult. Your ultimate goal is to meet the Mother.

So, you drive all over this place and do tasks for people like: delivering letters, looking for custom guns, or finding missing people. As you drive around, you will notice that your car takes damage and requires fuel. You need to repair things like your shocks, engine, and wheels. Driving offroad damages your vehicle more than driving on a nice paved road. To find fuel for your car, you need to siphon fuel out of the abandoned vehicles you find. This sounds like a lot of work but it isnt so terrible. Your vehicle starts with low level parts but you can find higher level parts all over in locked chests.

I finished the whole Dying Light game before starting The Following. That doesn’t seem to be necessary though. Your characters stats and items transfer between games. If you find an awesome weapon in The Following, you can go and use it in Dying Light. You cannot bring your vehicle into Dying Light though. Where would you drive it anyways?

Conclusion

Dying Light is a masterpiece. I had so many awesome experiences playing it. The satisfaction you get from doing missions, jumping from tall buildings, and finding bad ass weapons is incredible. I have finished the game but I keep finding myself going back to explore the world.

I’ve heard that Dying Light 2 isn’t really the same as Dying Light. I might check it out in another 5 years when I get a newer computer to run it.

If you want to find out more about how the game plays, go on YouTube and you’ll find numerous videos showing you where to get cool stuff, and walkthroughs for the hard levels.

Rating: ★★★★★ Playtime: 97.4 hours as of this posting

Oracle Free Tier VPS Server

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 07:23:23 +0000

I’ve always been interested in separating my home server into two parts: private data server, and one for public services.

I don’t trust a VPS with my data. Thus, I am not going to run my Nextcloud or Immich Photo server in the cloud. Also, those types of services just use way too much storage. I don’t have that sort of money.

Over the summer, I discovered that Oracle has a Free Tier for their VPS service which actually cost $0.

What is the Oracle Free Tier?

The relevant information you need to know from their Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation You have the choice between two types of Virtual Machines (VM)

Micro instances (AMD processor): All tenancies get up to two Always Free VM instances using the VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro shape, which has an AMD processor.

Ampere A1 Compute instances (Arm processor): All tenancies get the first 3,000 OCPU hours and 18,000 GB hours per month for free for VM instances using the VM.Standard.A1.Flex shape, which has an Arm processor. For Always Free tenancies, this is equivalent to 4 OCPUs and 24 GB of memory.

Translated to plain English you can have:

two x86 AMD CPU VMs
one 4 CPU ARM VM with 24 GB of ram (or you could split this up into multiple VMs, ie. 2 CPU/12 GB RAM x 2)
200 GB of storage total for all your VMs. 49 GB is minimum per VM.

To get these Free Tier services you do have to sign up with a credit card. They won’t charge you anything though.

Whats the catch?

There are a few downsides to these Free VMs

Oracle uses their own labyrinth of lingo: Shapes (types CPU/RAM combo), regions, etc. You have to learn it and navigate their terrible website to use the VMs. Luckily after you make your VM, you don’t really need to mess with their website again.
ARM VMs are very hard to spin up: You will have to resort to setting up a script to attempt making an ARM VM and leave it running until it gets lucky.
x86 AMD VMs only have 1 GB of RAM: You can’t do a heck of a lot with 1 GB of RAM.
Not easy to use custom images: When you first sign up, you should setup a custom

Setting Up Oracle Free Tier

Sign up for the Free Tier
Create a custom image
Create a regular AMD VM to test things out
Open ports
Setup your script to get a ARM VM. I recommend at least getting a 2 CPU/12 GB RAM VM.

Success!

My ARM server I use for my public services. If you notice, I use the Ubuntu 22.04 image provided by Oracle because I didn’t want my script to fail. It took me a day or so to run the script and get this VM ‘provisioned’ in Oracle’s parlance.

neofetch
            .-/+oossssoo+/-.               ubuntu@preveli 
        `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:`           -------------- 
      -+ssssssssssssssssssyyssss+-         OS: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS aarch64 
    .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.       Host: KVM Virtual Machine virt-4.2 
   /ssssssssssshdmmNNmmyNMMMMhssssss/      Kernel: 5.15.0-1047-oracle 
  +ssssssssshmydMMMMMMMNddddyssssssss+     Uptime: 6 days, 17 hours, 35 mins 
 /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhmNMMMNhssssssss/    Packages: 655 (dpkg), 4 (snap) 
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Shell: bash 5.1.16 
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   Resolution: 1024x768 
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   Terminal: /dev/pts/0 
ossyNMMMNyMMhsssssssssssssshmmmhssssssso   CPU: (2) 
+sssshhhyNMMNyssssssssssssyNMMMysssssss+   GPU: 00:01.0 Red Hat, Inc. Virtio GPU 
.ssssssssdMMMNhsssssssssshNMMMdssssssss.   Memory: 1986MiB / 11940MiB 
 /sssssssshNMMMyhhyyyyhdNMMMNhssssssss/
  +sssssssssdmydMMMMMMMMddddyssssssss+                             
   /ssssssssssshdmNNNNmyNMMMMhssssss/                              
    .ossssssssssssssssssdMMMNysssso.
      -+sssssssssssssssssyyyssss+-
        `:+ssssssssssssssssss+:`
            .-/+oossssoo+/-.

I’ll give details on how I’ve separated my servers to public/private in a future blog post. Until then, enjoy the free services we can get from Big Tech.

Photo Self-Hosting

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 11:38:51 +0000

Photoprism vs. Immich

I use to keep all my photos in Google Photos, but now I self-host my own photos for many reasons

I have been using Photoprism for many years. I liked it so much, I sponsored them on Github for awhile. For the past 6 months or so, I’ve been hearing a lot about Immich. They even talked about it on Linux Unplugged and Self-hoster.

I was very curious about why it had all this buzz. When running Photoprism, I had to run two instances of it: one for myself, and one for my wife. This used a lot of RAM. Photoprism has been talking about multiuser support for years, but it hasn’t come to fruition yet. This is the major feature that made me try out Immich.

I setup a test instance on a VPS to see how it works. It was very easy to setup with docker-compose. I only had to change 2 or 3 variables in the .env file to make it work. As a bonus, it worked great with ARM without any fiddling or hacks! After getting my test instance up, I uploaded some photos into it and showed my wife. She was ecstatic. She really loves the Google Photos style interface. She liked the app, too.

So, now I am in the midst of moving all my photos into Immich. I’ll share my thoughts on the differences between Photoprism and Immich.

Features

Photoprism

each instance can only have one user
machine learning to detect objects/people in pictures
can edit time, tags, and description of photos –> stores them in metadata files
can see your photos on a map
can share albums with links that deactivate after a period of time

Immich

multiusers
machine learning to detect objects/people in pictures
upload photos directly from the android/iOS app
can see your photos on a map
can share albums with friends

Both Photoprism and Immich have lots of similar features. The biggest feature that Immich has that is important to me is multiuser support. Sadly, both Photoprism and Immich cannot do easy edits like rotation or cropping, yet.

Interface

Photoprism

no app, but pretty responsive using it in the web browser
more buttons and options, so it takes some learning
cannot one click delete assets, you have to archive them, then delete
importing photos in the web is clunky

Immich

similar to Google Photos so it is familiar to most people
infinite timeline
looks more modern
easy to setup phone syncing in app

Administration/Setup

Photoprism

very complicated docker-compose file with many variables in the docker-compose file
easy to deploy with docker compose
to bulk upload photos you ‘index’ the photos where they are on the file system
don’t know if it supports ARM, I didn’t try that

Immich

more organized docker compose file, all variables in .env file
easy to deploy with docker compose
supports ARM
has special docker-cli to bulk import photos

Perfomance

Photoprism

made system unresponsive when importing photos
search is not great
indexing of photos is slow

Immich

uses 100% CPU when running machine learning/face detection on photos but doesn’t make system unresponsive
search for keywords seems more accurate

Wrap-up

Immich seems the way to go for a few reasons.

Multiuser support

Since it supports multiusers I only have to run one instance of Immich instead of 1 copy of Photoprism for each user. This means I use less RAM all together. I could make an account for my children when they grow up.

App

Most users want an app. Getting photos directly uploaded from the phone ensures that you have the most correct metadata. It’s easier to browse your photos with a dedicated app. The app is much faster than Photoprism ‘responsive web site’.

Interface

The interface is less cluttered, and feels more modern. Google Photos has a great, simple interface, so Immich just follows that style. The map view is better - when I click a photo cluster, it pops it open like a tree and i can keep going deeper to different locations.

Naming and merging faces is far better in Immich. In Photoprism, it is doing so much stuff on the backend, that renaming or merging faces often fails. I can only do a face or two a day, and then it gives me errors and I have to wait for another day.

Conclusion

The developer says that this isn’t production ready yet, but it feels stable and fast. I have high hopes for the continued development and improvement of Immich.

The only 2 features missing in my opinion are: basic rotation editing, and time/date editing.

I’ve become a paying Github sponsor and look forward to them improving the app incrementally!

Reading Challenge Lists

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:36:41 +0000

I have been tracking what I’ve been reading since 2014. At the time, I was still naive about Big Tech, so I joined GoodReads¹. It was fun to ‘brag’ to my friends about all the books I was reading, and peek into what they were reading to find other cool books. I also reviewed the books on there as a way to memorialize my thoughts and feelings about what I read. Another great feature of GoodReads was their Year in Review feature. Every January 1st, GoodReads would show me stats on how many books I read, average length of the books I read, and it even showed me a mosaic of all the book covers of what I read.

I have since moved away from Goodreads in a bid to live without Big Tech and ‘self-host’ or at least have more control of my data. I didn’t feel comfortable creating free reviews for a terrible company such as Amazon (the owner of GoodReads). Therefore, I exported all my GoodReads reading history and reviews into a CSV file. I started blogging reviews here on this blog, and tracking my reading in a spreadsheet. Unfortunately, using a spreadsheet for this has been clunky. This introduced friction for me when tracking what I was reading. I tried to replicate some of the GoodReads features, by tracking how many pages each book has, in an effort to have some data for a Year in Review type data point but ultimately this proved to be too much effort for little reward.

I have now moved all my book tracking to Obsidian. In markdown, making a table is really easy and it plugs into my note taking workflow. I also realized that I only need to track how many books I read, the title, and the author name. Trying to keep track of all that other data (page numbers, publisher, ISBN) was just too onerous. The primary purpose of my list is to ‘remember’ the books I’ve read, and encourage myself to read more books. I want to remember which books I’ve read so I don’t accidentally buy a book I’ve already read or own. Also, I sometimes like to recommend books to my friends.

example of a table in markdown:

| column 1 | column 2 |
| --- | --- |
| the cat in the hat | dr. seuss |

Since this blog is made with Hugo and uses markdown, it was trivial to paste my lists here on my blog. I hope this new system makes book tracking simpler for me.

Books I’ve Read

This is why my reading lists are called ReadingChallenge because Goodreads has something called the GoodReads Reading Challenge. ↩︎

Reading Challenge 2022

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:32:50 +0000

I read 89 books in 2022.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	A Christmas Carol	Charles Dickens
2	Cold War Correspondent (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11): A Korean War Tale	Nathan Hale
3	The Korean War (Pan Military Classics)	Max Hastings
4	Kirinyaga (A Fable of Utopia, #1)	Mike Resnick
5	Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th Book	Jim Davis
6	Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages	Dan Jones
7	Five Preludes & a Fugue (Yeoyu, #1)	Cheon Heerahn
8	Old Wrestler (Yeoyu, #2)	Jeon Sungtae
9	The Flock of Ba-Hui and Other Stories	Oobmab
10	The Orphan Master’s Son	Adam Johnson
11	Garfield World-Wide (Garfield, #15)	Jim Davis
12	Imperium (Granta Editions)	Ryszard Kapuściński
13	Great Expectations	Charles Dickens
14	Libraries in the Ancient World	Lionel Casson
15	Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night	Julian Sancton
16	The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization	Vince Beiser
17	The Promise	Damon Galgut
18	The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps	Michael Blanding
19	Light from Uncommon Stars	Ryka Aoki
20	The Eighth Day of the Week	Marek Hłasko
21	Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition	Owen Beattie
22	Putin’s People	Catherine Belton
23	Snoopy’s Love Book	Charles M. Schulz
24	Migrante	J.W. Henley
25	Killing the Second Dog	Marek Hłasko
26	The Remains of the Day	Kazuo Ishiguro
27	Money	Joe Cribb
28	The Nobility of Failure	Ivan Morris
29	Europa (Yeoyu, #3)	Han Kang
30	Garfield Tips the Scales (Garfield, #8)	Jim Davis
31	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston
32	The Girl from the Sea	Molly Knox Ostertag
33	Cursed Bunny	Bora Chung
34	Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)	John Steinbeck
35	The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine	Serhii Plokhy
36	Deadwood	Pete Dexter
37	Garfield Out to Lunch (Garfield, #12)	Jim Davis
38	Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience (Vintage)	Gitta Sereny
39	Tomb of Sand	Geetanjali Shree
40	The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War	Nicholas Mulder
41	Tales from the Ant World	Edward O. Wilson
42	Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen
43	Ten Myths about Israel	Ilan Pappé
44	My Evil Mother	Margaret Atwood
45	All Backs Were Turned	Marek Hłasko
46	At the Mountains of Madness	H.P. Lovecraft
47	The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution	Nils Melzer
48	Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks	Patrick Radden Keefe
49	The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness	Shin Kyung-sook
50	Garfield Says a Mouthful (Garfield, #21)	Jim Davis
51	Stoner	John Williams
52	Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
53	Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
54	War and Peas: Funny Comics for Dirty Lovers	Jonathan Kunz
55	Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern	Jing Tsu
56	Britain’s Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt	Richard Gott
57	SSH Mastery: OpenSSH, PuTTY, Tunnels and Keys	Michael W. Lucas
58	Demons (Yeoyu, #7)	Kang Hwagil
59	Savaged by Systemd: an Erotic Unix Encounter	Michael Warren Lucas
60	Death and the Penguin	Andrey Kurkov
61	The Graveyard	Marek Hłasko
62	The Witch Boy (The Witch Boy, #1)	Molly Knox Ostertag
63	The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix #03: Mary Anne Saves The Day	Ann M. Martin
64	Kristy’s Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1)	Raina Telgemeier
65	The Truth About Stacey	Raina Telgemeier
66	The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers	Richard McGregor
67	A Taipei Mutt	Eric Mader-Lin
68	Every Man Dies Alone	Hans Fallada
69	A Fall of Moondust	Arthur C. Clarke
70	The Centauri Device	M. John Harrison
71	The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis	Amitav Ghosh
72	Hooky	Míriam Bonastre Tur
73	Squad	Maggie Tokuda-Hall
74	Space Boy Volume 1 (Space Boy, #1)	Stephen McCranie
75	Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir	Tyler Feder
76	git commit murder	Michael Warren Lucas
77	Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures and Innovations	Mary Beard
78	Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin	Timothy Snyder
79	git sync murder	Michael Warren Lucas
80	Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe	Serhii Plokhy
81	Against a Dark Background	Iain M. Banks
82	???	???
83	Non-Stop	Brian W. Aldiss
84	Man Plus	Frederik Pohl
85	Delusions of the Crowd	William J. Bernstein
86	Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures	Carl Zimmer
87	Traffic Power Structure	Planka.nu
88	In the Beginning…was the Command Line	Neal Stephenson
89	The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War	Ben Macintyre

Reading Challenge 2021

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:31:45 +0000

I read 118 books in 2021.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Raid of No Return (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #7)	Nathan Hale
2	The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding	Robert Hughes
3	Excession (Culture, #5)	Iain M. Banks
4	The Doors of Eden	Adrian Tchaikovsky
5	Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State	Barton Gellman
6	Aztec, Inca, and Maya	Elizabeth Baquedano
7	Outer Dark	Cormac McCarthy
8	Planet of Exile (Hainish Cycle, #2)	Ursula K. Le Guin
9	Rocannon’s World (Hainish Cycle, #1)	Ursula K. Le Guin
10	Roadside Picnic	Arkady Strugatsky
11	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Roald Dahl
12	Privacy is Power: Reclaiming Democracy in the Digital Age	Carissa Véliz
13	Tokyo Ueno Station	Miri Yū
14	The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea	Bandi
15	Milena, Milena, Ecstatic (Yeoyu, #6)	Bae Suah
16	Eumeswil	Ernst Jünger
17	History Of Crete	Theocharēs Eustratiou Detorakēs
18	Ocean: Eyewitness Books	Miranda MacQuitty
19	Divorce (Yeoyu, #4)	Kim Soom
20	Major Impossible (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #9)	Nathan Hale
21	Lafayette! (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #8)	Nathan Hale
22	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Maya Angelou
23	Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #10)	Nathan Hale
24	Stand on Zanzibar	John Brunner
25	Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks	Keith Houston
26	Hark! A Vagrant (Hark! A Vagrant, #1)	Kate Beaton
27	English Passengers	Matthew Kneale
28	Bartleby the Scrivener	Herman Melville
29	The Sheep Look Up	John Brunner
30	Knight (Eyewitness Books)	Christopher Gravett
31	Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation	Roderick Beaton
32	Primeval and Other Times	Olga Tokarczuk
33	Economics in the Age of Covid-19, Updated Edition	Joshua Gans
34	Treasure Island	Robert Louis Stevenson
35	Garfield Bigger Than Life (Garfield, #3)	Jim Davis
36	Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom	Howard S. Levy
37	Rapunzel’s Revenge (Rapunzel’s Revenge, #1)	Shannon Hale
38	O Pioneers! (Great Plains Trilogy, #1)	Willa Cather
39	They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South	Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
40	SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome	Mary Beard
41	Crying in H Mart	Michelle Zauner
42	Geisha	Liza Dalby
43	Theory of Bastards	Audrey Schulman
44	Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil	Hannah Arendt
45	If I Had Your Face	Frances Cha
46	Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town	Mary Beard
47	Flying Machine (DK Eyewitness Books)	Andrew Nahum
48	DK Eyewitness Books: Bible Lands	Jonathan N. Tubb
49	How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks	Witold Szabłowski
50	My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror	Thomas Ligotti
51	The Palace of Dreams	Ismail Kadare
52	Step Aside, Pops (Hark! A Vagrant, #2)	Kate Beaton
53	The Colosseum	Keith Hopkins
54	The Atlas of Flags	Federico Silvestri
55	Hench	Natalie Zina Walschots
56	The Eighth Life	Nino Haratischwili
57	Asterix and the Actress (Astérix, #31)	Albert Uderzo
58	The Expert System’s Champion (Expert System, #2)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
59	The Expert System’s Brother (Expert System, #1)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
60	Scales of Injustice. The Complete Fiction of Loā Hô.	Loā Hô
61	The Borrowed	Chan Ho-Kei
62	The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable	Patrick Lencioni
63	Your Republic Is Calling You	Young-Ha Kim
64	Witness in Palestine: A Jewish Woman in the Occupied Territories	Anna Baltzer
65	Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA	Tim Weiner
66	Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)	Martha Wells
67	Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman
68	Klara and the Sun	Kazuo Ishiguro
69	Inversions (Culture, #6)	Iain M. Banks
70	No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention	Reed Hastings
71	At Night All Blood is Black	David Diop
72	Metro 2033 (Metro, #1)	Dmitry Glukhovsky
73	The Parthenon	Mary Beard
74	Leaves of Grass: First and “Death-Bed” Editions	Walt Whitman
75	Heavy Time (Company Wars, #4)	C.J. Cherryh
76	Metro 2034 (Metro, #2)	Dmitry Glukhovsky
77	The General of the Dead Army	Ismail Kadare
78	Fascism	Mark Neocleous
79	Computer	Mike Goldsmith
80	An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination	Sheera Frenkel
81	Hellburner (The Company Wars, #5)	C.J. Cherryh
82	Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland	Patrick Radden Keefe
83	The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification	Christopher Hitchens
84	The Discomfort of Evening	Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
85	The Woman in White	Wilkie Collins
86	Look to Windward (Culture, #7)	Iain M. Banks
87	The Complete Far Side	Gary Larson
88	Matter (Culture, #8)	Iain M. Banks
89	Surface Detail (Culture #9)	Iain M. Banks
90	A Few Notes on the Culture	Iain M. Banks
91	The Hydrogen Sonata (Culture #10)	Iain M. Banks
92	This Place: 150 Years Retold	Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
93	A Ghost in the Throat	Doireann Ní Ghríofa
94	Extraordinary Insects	Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
95	The Mermaid from Jeju	Sumi Hahn
96	The Empress and the Cake	Linda Stift
97	Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels	Scott McCloud
98	Downbelow Station (The Company Wars, #1)	C.J. Cherryh
99	Merchanter’s Luck (The Company Wars, #2)	C.J. Cherryh
100	Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War	Samuel Moyn
101	A Passage North	Anuk Arudpragasam
102	Rimrunners (The Company Wars, #3)	C.J. Cherryh
103	Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art	Scott McCloud
104	Tripoint (The Company Wars, #6)	C.J. Cherryh
105	Finity’s End (The Company Wars, #7)	C.J. Cherryh
106	Looking at Totem Poles	Hilary Stewart
107	Cyteen (Cyteen, #1-3)	C.J. Cherryh
108	Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain	Sathnam Sanghera
109	Soviet Milk	Nora Ikstena
110	Nimona	N.D. Stevenson
111	Project Hail Mary	Andy Weir
112	The Canterbury Tales	Geoffrey Chaucer
113	Second Sister	Chan Ho-Kei
114	The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History	Tonio Andrade
115	Shell (DK Eyewitness)	Alex Arthur
116	From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler	E.L. Konigsburg
117	A Tale of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
118	The Quiet American	Graham Greene

Reading Challenge 2020

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:30:57 +0000

I read 143 books in 2020.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Room on the Broom	Julia Donaldson
2	We Are Growing! (Elephant & Piggie like reading!, #2)	Laurie Keller
3	A Big Guy Took My Ball! (Elephant & Piggie, #19)	Mo Willems
4	Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct	Mo Willems
5	Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs	Mo Willems
6	Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!	Mo Willems
7	Time to Pee!	Mo Willems
8	I Don’t Want to Wash My Hands! (Little Princess)	Tony Ross
9	Inventors Who Changed the World	Heidi Poelman
10	Supertruck	Stephen A. Savage
11	Giraffes Can’t Dance	Giles Andreae
12	You Are (Not) Small	Anna Kang
13	Car, Car, Truck, Jeep	Katrina Charman
14	There Is a Bird on Your Head! (Elephant & Piggie, #4)	Mo Willems
15	Folding Beijing	Hao Jingfang
16	Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny	Witold Szabłowski
17	Spin (Spin, #1)	Robert Charles Wilson
18	Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said	Philip K. Dick
19	American Born Chinese	Gene Luen Yang
20	A Woman Is No Man	Etaf Rum
21	This is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature	Ahdaf Soueif
22	The Man in the High Castle	Philip K. Dick
23	Minoan and Mycenaean Art	Reynold Higgins
24	Old Man’s War (Old Man’s War, #1)	John Scalzi
25	Mighty Jack (Mighty Jack, #1)	Ben Hatke
26	The Return of Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl, #3)	Ben Hatke
27	The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)	Andrzej Sapkowski
28	Chinese Spies: From Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping	Roger Faligot
29	The Birthday Buyer	Adolfo García Ortega
30	Sword of Destiny (The Witcher, #0.7)	Andrzej Sapkowski
31	Recursion	Blake Crouch
32	The Emperor	Ryszard Kapuściński
33	The Trial	Franz Kafka
34	Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor	Virginia Eubanks
35	How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century	Frank Dikötter
36	The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)	Agatha Christie
37	Jokes for the Gunmen	Mazen Maarouf
38	Grass	Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
39	Mythology	Edith Hamilton
40	Shah of Shahs	Ryszard Kapuściński
41	China Mountain Zhang	Maureen F. McHugh
42	All My Friends Are Dead	Avery Monsen
43	The Celtic Holocaust (Hardcore History, #60)	Dan Carlin
44	Supernova in the East I-VI (Hardcore History, #62-67)	Dan Carlin
45	Supernova in the East II - (Hardcore History, #63-)	Dan Carlin
46	Supernova in the East III - (Hardcore History, #64-)	Dan Carlin
47	Wrath of the Khans (Hardcore History, #43-47)	Dan Carlin
48	King of Kings (Hardcore History, #56-58)	Dan Carlin
49	Blueprint for Armageddon (Hardcore History, #50-55)	Dan Carlin
50	Venice: Pure City	Peter Ackroyd
51	The Mask of Dimitrios (Charles Latimer, #1)	Eric Ambler
52	Palestine +100: Stories from a century after the Nakba	Basma Ghalayini
53	The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree	Shokoofeh Azar
54	The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia	Ian Easton
55	Painfotainment (Hardcore History, #61)	Dan Carlin
56	Taipei: City of Displacements	Joseph R. Allen
57	Of Mice and Men	John Steinbeck
58	How We Disappeared	Jing-Jing Lee
59	Tyll	Daniel Kehlmann
60	Rethymno: Soul Of Crete	Stella Kalogeraki
61	Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen	Guy Standing
62	Lord of Formosa	Joyce Bergvelt
63	The Explosion Chronicles	Yan Lianke
64	Foundation (Foundation, #1)	Isaac Asimov
65	Hilda and the Bird Parade (Hilda, #3)	Luke Pearson
66	Hilda and the Black Hound (Hilda, #4)	Luke Pearson
67	Hilda and the Stone Forest (Hilda, #5)	Luke Pearson
68	Hilda and the Midnight Giant (Hilda, #2)	Luke Pearson
69	Hilda and the Troll (Hilda, #1)	Luke Pearson
70	Adventure Time Vol. 2	Ryan North
71	Adventure Time Vol. 1	Ryan North
72	Foundation and Empire (Foundation #2)	Isaac Asimov
73	One Hundred Years of Solitude	Gabriel García Márquez
74	Adventure Time Vol. 3	Ryan North
75	Second Foundation (Foundation #3)	Isaac Asimov
76	The Omnivore’s Dilemma	Michael Pollan
77	The Hidden Girl and Other Stories	Ken Liu
78	The Soccer War	Ryszard Kapuściński
79	The Light Brigade	Kameron Hurley
80	Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now	Joshua Wong
81	Good Will Come from the Sea	Christos Ikonomou
82	My Friend is Sad (Elephant & Piggie, #2)	Mo Willems
83	Waiting is Not Easy! (Elephant & Piggie, #22)	Mo Willems
84	Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique	Chiang Yee
85	Diana: Princess of the Amazons	Shannon Hale
86	March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown	Elmer Luke
87	The Robber Bride	Margaret Atwood
88	Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)	Martha Wells
89	Something Will Happen, You’ll See	Christos Ikonomou
90	Hurricane Season	Fernanda Melchor
91	The Adventures of China Iron	Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
92	Taiwan’s Imagined Geography: Chinese Colonial Travel Writing and Pictures, 1683-1895	Emma Jinhua Teng
93	Hunger: A Novella and Stories	Lan Samantha Chang
94	White Fox (The White Fox, #1)	Chen Jiatong
95	Bury the Chains	Adam Hochschild
96	Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1)	Octavia E. Butler
97	Fish Have No Feet	Jón Kalman Stefánsson
98	Imago (Xenogenesis, #3)	Octavia E. Butler
99	Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis, #2)	Octavia E. Butler
100	The Psychology of Time Travel	Kate Mascarenhas
101	Time Enough For Love	Robert A. Heinlein
102	The Girl Who Drank the Moon	Kelly Barnhill
103	Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982	Cho Nam-Joo
104	Four Soldiers	Hubert Mingarelli
105	Sisters of the Vast Black	Lina Rather
106	Mouthful of Birds	Samanta Schweblin
107	An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk	Allison Schrager
108	Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence	Jonathan Sacks
109	The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s 1984	Dorian Lynskey
110	The Witch’s Boy	Kelly Barnhill
111	Nineteen Eighty-Four	George Orwell
112	Gorky Park (Arkady Renko, #1)	Martin Cruz Smith
113	Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan’s Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family’s Past	Jessica J. Lee
114	The Silence of the Girls	Pat Barker
115	The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)	Ha Jin
116	The Man with the Compound Eyes	Wu Ming-Yi
117	Nelson’s Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World	Roy A. Adkins
118	Untold Night and Day	Bae Suah
119	Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick	Philip K. Dick
120	One Dead Spy (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #1)	Nathan Hale
121	Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #4)	Nathan Hale
122	The Plotters	Un-su Kim
123	Story of a Secret State: My Report to the World	Jan Karski
124	Arms & Armour	Michele Byam
125	Eyewitness: Battle	Richard Holmes
126	Alamo All-Stars (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #6)	Nathan Hale
127	The Underground Abductor (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #5)	Nathan Hale
128	Donner Dinner Party (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #3)	Nathan Hale
129	Big Bad Ironclad! (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales, #2)	Nathan Hale
130	That We May Live	Chen Si’an
131	KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps	Nikolaus Wachsmann
132	Homage to Catalonia	George Orwell
133	Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)	Agatha Christie
134	Flag (Eyewitness Books)	William G. Crampton
135	From Beirut to Jerusalem	Thomas L. Friedman
136	Polar Star (Arkady Renko, #2)	Martin Cruz Smith
137	Havana Bay (Arkady Renko, #4)	Martin Cruz Smith
138	Wolves Eat Dogs (Arkady Renko, #5)	Martin Cruz Smith
139	Red Square (Arkady Renko, #3)	Martin Cruz Smith
140	The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes	Bill Watterson
141	Martian Time-Slip	Philip K. Dick
142	Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed	Jared Diamond
143	The State of the Art (Culture, #4)	Iain M. Banks

Reading Challenge 2019

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:30:06 +0000

I read 114 books in 2019.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Nobody Likes a Goblin	Ben Hatke
2	Malala’s Magic Pencil	Malala Yousafzai
3	The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors	Drew Daywalt
4	Not Quite Narwhal	Jessie Sima
5	The Princess and the Pony	Kate Beaton
6	Wolfie the Bunny	Ame Dyckman
7	Sam and Dave Dig a Hole	Mac Barnett
8	It’s Okay to Be Different	Todd Parr
9	The Iliad	Homer
10	The Lord of the Rings	J.R.R. Tolkien
11	Animal Farm	George Orwell
12	The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)	Douglas Adams
13	Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)	Iain M. Banks
14	Washington Black	Esi Edugyan
15	The Great Wall	John Man
16	Human Acts	Han Kang
17	Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)	William Gibson
18	An Excess Male	Maggie Shen King
19	Diary of a Madman and Other Stories	Lu Xun
20	The Martian Chronicles	Ray Bradbury
21	The Forever War (The Forever War, #1)	Joe Haldeman
22	Frankenstein: The 1818 Text	Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
23	The Watermelon Boys	Ruqaya Izzidien
24	The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power	Shoshana Zuboff
25	The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman
26	A Dog’s Heart	Mikhail Bulgakov
27	Convenience Store Woman	Sayaka Murata
28	NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently	Steve Silberman
29	The Old Man and the Sea	Ernest Hemingway
30	McSweeney’s #54: The End of Trust	Dave Eggers
31	Taiwan: The Search for Idenity - 探索台灣自我認同	Jerome F. Keating
32	The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary	Ken Liu
33	The Man Who Was Thursday	G.K. Chesterton
34	A New Illustrated History of Taiwan	Wan-yao Chou
35	Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation	Ken Liu
36	My Sister, the Serial Killer	Oyinkan Braithwaite
37	We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families	Philip Gourevitch
38	Want (Want, #1)	Cindy Pon
39	The Song of Achilles	Madeline Miller
40	From a Low and Quiet Sea	Donal Ryan
41	The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl with All the Gifts, #1)	M.R. Carey
42	Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction	Irene Gallo
43	Use of Weapons (Culture, #3)	Iain M. Banks
44	The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2)	Ursula K. Le Guin
45	Annie John	Jamaica Kincaid
46	The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle, #3)	Ursula K. Le Guin
47	Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4)	Ursula K. Le Guin
48	Half of a Yellow Sun	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
49	Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #5)	Ursula K. Le Guin
50	Freedom and Death	Nikos Kazantzakis
51	Aetherial Worlds: Stories	Tatyana Tolstaya
52	Vermilion Sands	J.G. Ballard
53	The Gods Themselves	Isaac Asimov
54	Early People (Collins Eyewitness Guides)	Philip Wilkinson
55	Galatea	Madeline Miller
56	Eyewitness: Leonardo & His Times	Andrew Langley
57	The Ancient Greeks	Imogen Greenberg
58	Waiting	Ha Jin
59	The Paper Trail: An Unexpected History of a Revolutionary Invention	Alexander Monro
60	The Doomed City	Arkady Strugatsky
61	21 Lessons for the 21st Century	Yuval Noah Harari
62	Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific	Robert D. Kaplan
63	China Dream	Ma Jian
64	The Tattooist of Auschwitz	Heather Morris
65	Not Forgetting the Whale	John Ironmonger
66	The Moon is a Harsh Mistress	Robert A. Heinlein
67	Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)	Ernest Cline
68	The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories	Ken Liu
69	The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane	Lisa See
70	The Buried Giant	Kazuo Ishiguro
71	The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1)	John Scalzi
72	Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (George Smiley, #5; Karla Trilogy #1)	John le Carré
73	Woman at Point Zero	Nawal El Saadawi
74	The Good People	Hannah Kent
75	To The Bright Edge of the World	Eowyn Ivey
76	The Man Who Fell to Earth	Walter Tevis
77	The White Book	Han Kang
78	Behold!!! the Protong	Stanisław Szukalski
79	Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead	Olga Tokarczuk
80	At Dusk	Hwang Sok-yong
81	Once Upon a Time in the East: A Story of Growing Up	Xiaolu Guo
82	The Death of Murat Idrissi	Tommy Wieringa
83	Lord of Light	Roger Zelazny
84	The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World	Greg Grandin
85	Celestial Bodies	Jokha Alharthi
86	Max	Sarah Cohen-Scali
87	Permanent Record	Edward Snowden
88	The Testaments (The Handmaid’s Tale, #2)	Margaret Atwood
89	Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
90	Medusa Uploaded (The Medusa Cycle, #1)	Emily Devenport
91	“The Dead Do Not Die”; “Exterminate All the Brutes”; and Terra Nullius	Sven Lindqvist
92	Smile (Smile, #1)	Raina Telgemeier
93	Zeus: King of the Gods (Olympians, #1)	George O’Connor
94	Feast of the Innocents	Evelio Rosero
95	Space Exploration	Carole Stott
96	Dracula	Bram Stoker
97	Sisters (Smile, #2)	Raina Telgemeier
98	The Stone of Heaven: The Secret History of Imperial Green Jade	Adrian Levy
99	Explorer (Eyewitness Books)	Rupert Matthews
100	Drama	Raina Telgemeier
101	The Nickel Boys	Colson Whitehead
102	Waste Tide	Chen Qiufan
103	Welcome to the Museum: Historium	Richard Wilkinson
104	The Moonstone (Detective Club Crime Classics)	Wilkie Collins
105	American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century	Maureen Callahan
106	This Is How You Lose the Time War	Amal El-Mohtar
107	Moby Dick	Herman Melville
108	As long as there is resistance, there is hope: Essays on the Hong Kong freedom struggle in the post-Umbrella Movement era, 2014-2018	Kong Tsung-gan
109	Supernova Era	Liu Cixin
110	Marvel 1602	Neil Gaiman
111	Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad
112	Legends of Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl, #2)	Ben Hatke
113	The Memory Police	Yōko Ogawa
114	Rocks & Minerals (Eyewitness)	Robert F. Symes

Reading Challenge 2018

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:27:18 +0000

I read 108 books in 2018.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	A Taste of Freedom	Peng Ming-min
2	The Wandering Earth	Liu Cixin
3	Tales from a Greek Island	Alexandros Papadiamantis
4	Taiwan’s Social Movements under Ma Ying-jeou: From the Wild Strawberries to the Sunflowers (Routledge Research on Taiwan Series)	Dafydd Fell
5	The Day the Crayons Quit	Drew Daywalt
6	All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)	Martha Wells
7	Castle	David Macaulay
8	Rude Cakes	Rowboat Watkins
9	Mr. Tiger Goes Wild	Peter Brown
10	Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe	Kapka Kassabova
11	Julia’s House for Lost Creatures	Ben Hatke
12	Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh	Sally M. Walker
13	The Invention of Hugo Cabret	Brian Selznick
14	Rapunzel	Paul O. Zelinsky
15	Women & Power: A Manifesto	Mary Beard
16	Pax (Pax #1)	Sara Pennypacker
17	Seven Blind Mice	Ed Young
18	Judas	Amos Oz
19	Turtle Island	Kevin Sherry
20	Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, #1)	Judi Barrett
21	Sharks	Catriona Clarke
22	Pachinko	Min Jin Lee
23	The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain	Peter Sís
24	Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction	David Macaulay
25	The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle, #4)	Ursula K. Le Guin
26	To Be a Machine : Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death	Mark O’Connell
27	The Witches	Roald Dahl
28	The Last Days of the Incas	Kim MacQuarrie
29	The Unreal and the Real Volume 2: Outer Space, Inner Lands	Ursula K. Le Guin
30	Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)	Chinua Achebe
31	The The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins	Barbara Kerley
32	Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei	Peter Sís
33	The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus	Jen Bryant
34	The Night Manager	John le Carré
35	Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation	Saree Makdisi
36	Snow Crash	Neal Stephenson
37	The Bone Labyrinth (Sigma Force, #11)	James Rollins
38	Frankenstein in Baghdad	Ahmed Saadawi
39	Tibet: Through the Red Box	Peter Sís
40	The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts	Joshua Hammer
41	The Traitor’s Niche	Ismail Kadare
42	The Tobacconist	Robert Seethaler
43	The Player of Games (Culture #2)	Iain M. Banks
44	The Stolen Bicycle	Wu Ming-Yi
45	Binti (Binti, #1)	Nnedi Okorafor
46	The Martyred	Richard E. Kim
47	Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House	Michael Wolff
48	The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin	Ursula K. Le Guin
49	The Stranger	Albert Camus
50	Lolita	Vladimir Nabokov
51	Flights	Olga Tokarczuk
52	Son of a Trickster (Trickster, #1)	Eden Robinson
53	One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment	Mei Fong
54	Origin (Robert Langdon, #5)	Dan Brown
55	A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)	Ursula K. Le Guin
56	Jerusalem: The Biography	Simon Sebag Montefiore
57	Austerity	Yanis Varoufakis
58	Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)	Martha Wells
59	Neverwhere (London Below, #1)	Neil Gaiman
60	What Happened	Hillary Rodham Clinton
61	Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)	Martha Wells
62	The Lathe of Heaven	Ursula K. Le Guin
63	The Fishermen	Chigozie Obioma
64	Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood	Trevor Noah
65	Ghana Must Go	Taiye Selasi
66	Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow	Yuval Noah Harari
67	Happiness, Like Water	Chinelo Okparanta
68	Fear: Trump in the White House	Bob Woodward
69	The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq	Dunya Mikhail
70	I’ll Be Right There	Shin Kyung-sook
71	Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine	Gail Honeyman
72	On Palestine	Noam Chomsky
73	World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War	Max Brooks
74	The Best Place on Earth	Ayelet Tsabari
75	The Sunset Limited	Cormac McCarthy
76	Disoriental	Négar Djavadi
77	Home (Binti, #2)	Nnedi Okorafor
78	The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3)	Nnedi Okorafor
79	Invisible Cities	Italo Calvino
80	Coraline	Neil Gaiman
81	Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)	Martha Wells
82	High-Rise	J.G. Ballard
83	Zita the Spacegirl (Zita the Spacegirl, #1)	Ben Hatke
84	The Wandering Earth	Liu Cixin
85	Delusions of Gender: The Real Science behind Sex Differences	Cordelia Fine
86	Milkman	Anna Burns
87	A Very Large Expanse of Sea	Tahereh Mafi
88	Ball Lightning	Liu Cixin
89	The Twits	Roald Dahl
90	George’s Marvelous Medicine	Roald Dahl
91	The File on H.	Ismail Kadare
92	Milk and Honey	Rupi Kaur
93	Cortez on Jupiter: A Locus Poll Top Ten Novel	Ernest Hogan
94	Death Notice	Zhou Haohui
95	The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate, #1)	Neon Yang
96	No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State	Glenn Greenwald
97	Silence	Shūsaku Endō
98	Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)	Ann Leckie
99	The Trader of Saigon	Lucy Cruickshanks
100	The Emissary	Yōko Tawada
101	Circe	Madeline Miller
102	On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century	Timothy Snyder
103	Boxers (Boxers & Saints, #1)	Gene Luen Yang
104	Tales of Ten Worlds	Arthur C. Clarke
105	A Walk Among the Tombstones	Lawrence Block
106	Everything Under	Daisy Johnson
107	Saints (Boxers & Saints, #2)	Gene Luen Yang
108	Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money	Nathaniel Popper

Reading Challenge 2017

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:26:17 +0000

I read 62 books in 2017.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)	Octavia E. Butler
2	Underground Airlines	Ben H. Winters
3	The North Water	Ian McGuire
4	A Gentleman in Moscow	Amor Towles
5	Anansi Boys (American Gods #2)	Neil Gaiman
6	A Man Called Ove	Fredrik Backman
7	The Underground Railroad	Colson Whitehead
8	The Shipping News	Annie Proulx
9	The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World	Dalai Lama XIV
10	The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)	Liu Cixin
11	Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets	Svetlana Alexievich
12	Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold	Margaret Atwood
13	The Handmaid’s Tale (The Handmaid’s Tale, #1)	Margaret Atwood
14	The Wonder	Emma Donoghue
15	The Master and Margarita	Mikhail Bulgakov
16	Seveneves	Neal Stephenson
17	The White Tiger	Aravind Adiga
18	The Mothers	Brit Bennett
19	Fever Dream	Samanta Schweblin
20	Accidental State: Chiang Kai-Shek, the United States, and the Making of Taiwan	Hsiao-ting Lin
21	The Terror	Dan Simmons
22	The Goldfinch	Donna Tartt
23	Dark Matter	Blake Crouch
24	The Struggle for Tibet	Wang Lixiong
25	Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War	Mary Roach
26	Arrival	Ted Chiang
27	Bel Canto	Ann Patchett
28	Lilac Girls	Martha Hall Kelly
29	Stay with Me	Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
30	Redshirts	John Scalzi
31	Mortal Engines	Stanisław Lem
32	Wonder (Wonder, #1)	R.J. Palacio
33	The Power	Naomi Alderman
34	No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems	Xiaobo Liu
35	The Mapping of Taiwan: Desired Economies, Coveted Geographies	Jerome F. Keating
36	The Dispossessed	Ursula K. Le Guin
37	A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet, #1)	Madeleine L’Engle
38	The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China	Julia Lovell
39	A Horse Walks into a Bar	David Grossman
40	Solaris	Stanisław Lem
41	Wolf Totem	Jiang Rong
42	Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)	Adrian Tchaikovsky
43	Taiwan’s International Status: History and Theory	Hsueh Hua-Yuan
44	The Unseen	Roy Jacobsen
45	The Complete Persepolis (Persepolis, #1-4)	Marjane Satrapi
46	The Chrysalids	John Wyndham
47	It	Stephen King
48	Formosa Betrayed	George H. Kerr
49	The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)	Angie Thomas
50	Death’s End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #3)	Liu Cixin
51	I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life	Ed Yong
52	The Lowland	Jhumpa Lahiri
53	Meditations	Marcus Aurelius
54	Days Without End (Days Without End #1)	Sebastian Barry
55	Umbrella: A Political Tale from Hong Kong	Kong Tsung-gan
56	Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science, and Society	Cordelia Fine
57	Exit West	Mohsin Hamid
58	Bound feet: stories of contemporary Taiwan	Catherine Dai
59	Swallowing Mercury	Wioletta Greg
60	Holes (Holes, #1)	Louis Sachar
61	The Complete Adventures Of Charlie And Mr Willy Wonka	Roald Dahl
62	Reservoir 13	Jon McGregor

Reading Challenge 2016

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:25:17 +0000

I read 86 books in 2016.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Boxers & Saints	Gene Luen Yang
2	Middlesex	Jeffrey Eugenides
3	Dream of Ding Village	Yan Lianke
4	Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift	David K. Foot
5	From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History	Kenneth J. Hammond
6	I Went To The Zoopermarket	Nick Sharratt
7	Fox in Socks	Dr. Seuss
8	I Want My Hat Back	Jon Klassen
9	Goodnight Already!	Jory John
10	Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress	Dai Sijie
11	Goodnight, Canada	Andrea Beck
12	From Head to Toe	Eric Carle
13	Taiwan: A Political History	Denny Roy
14	The Past and the Punishments	Yu Hua
15	Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets	Sudhir Venkatesh
16	The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium, #2)	Stieg Larsson
17	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3)	Stieg Larsson
18	Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation	Leo T.S. Ching
19	The Mammoth Book of Best New SF 25	Gardner Dozois
20	Station Eleven	Emily St. John Mandel
21	Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End	Atul Gawande
22	Cryptonomicon	Neal Stephenson
23	Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage	Haruki Murakami
24	Green Island	Shawna Yang Ryan
25	The Revenant	Michael Punke
26	Norwegian Wood	Haruki Murakami
27	The Shining	Stephen King
28	Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner #1)	Philip K. Dick
29	The World Until Yesterday	Jared Diamond
30	The Garlic Ballads	Mo Yan
31	The Rape of Nanking	Iris Chang
32	The Sympathizer	Viet Thanh Nguyen
33	Island In The Stream: A Quick Case Study Of Taiwan’s Complex History	April C.J. Lin
34	The Vegetarian	Han Kang
35	A General Theory of Oblivion	José Eduardo Agualusa
36	The Four Books	Yan Lianke
37	A Strangeness in My Mind	Orhan Pamuk
38	A Whole Life	Robert Seethaler
39	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)	J.K. Rowling
40	The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle	Haruki Murakami
41	The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the Struggle for Modern China	Jay Taylor
42	The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer	Neal Stephenson
43	The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine	Michael Lewis
44	Sphere	Michael Crichton
45	Fault Line (Ben Treven, #1)	Barry Eisler
46	Day of the Dead (Walker Family, #3)	J.A. Jance
47	The Year of the Runaways	Sunjeev Sahota
48	The Art of Losing	Daniel Scott White
49	Child 44 (Leo Demidov, #1)	Tom Rob Smith
50	The Humans	Matt Haig
51	The Giver (The Giver, #1)	Lois Lowry
52	Deal Breaker (Myron Bolitar, #1)	Harlan Coben
53	Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch	Terry Pratchett
54	Party Members	Arthur Meursault
55	Zeitoun	Dave Eggers
56	The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1)	Ben H. Winters
57	A Confederacy of Dunces	John Kennedy Toole
58	The BFG	Roald Dahl
59	Fifteen Dogs (Quincunx, #2)	André Alexis
60	Reaper Man (Discworld, #11; Death, #2)	Terry Pratchett
61	Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)	Dan Brown
62	Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS	Joby Warrick
63	Countdown City (The Last Policeman, #2)	Ben H. Winters
64	Taiwan: the struggles of a democracy	Jerome F. Keating
65	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer	Patrick Süskind
66	The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao	Junot Díaz
67	The Inheritance of Loss	Kiran Desai
68	The Many	Wyl Menmuir
69	Do Not Say We Have Nothing	Madeleine Thien
70	Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
71	Open City	Teju Cole
72	The Dark Road	Ma Jian
73	Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First	Frank Trentmann
74	The Land of Words	D.S. White
75	Eileen	Ottessa Moshfegh
76	The Sellout	Paul Beatty
77	His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae	Graeme Macrae Burnet
78	Oryx & Crake (MaddAddam #1)	Margaret Atwood
79	The Wangs vs. the World	Jade Chang
80	All That Man Is	David Szalay
81	Desperate Housecats	Christine N. Roberts
82	Hot Milk	Deborah Levy
83	Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation	Ken Liu
84	Barkskins	Annie Proulx
85	Timeline	Michael Crichton
86	The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1)	Liu Cixin

Reading Challenge 2015

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:24:06 +0000

I read 71 books in 2015.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3	Bill Martin Jr.
2	The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)	James Dashner
3	The Girl on the Train	Paula Hawkins
4	Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything	Steven D. Levitt
5	The Reluctant Fundamentalist	Mohsin Hamid
6	The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)	Dan Brown
7	The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined	Steven Pinker
8	The Rest of the Robots (Robot, #0.2)	Isaac Asimov
9	Second Genesis	Jeffrey Anderson
10	Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption	Laura Hillenbrand
11	Aesop’s Fables	Aesop
12	Ulysses	James Joyce
13	The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)	J.R.R. Tolkien
14	The Call of the Wild	Jack London
15	Beowulf	Unknown
16	The Odyssey	Homer
17	Lord of the Flies	William Golding
18	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
19	The Testament	John Grisham
20	The Runaway Jury	John Grisham
21	The Pelican Brief	John Grisham
22	The Client	John Grisham
23	The Firm	Robin Waterfield
24	And the Mountains Echoed	Khaled Hosseini
25	The Death Cure (The Maze Runner, #3)	James Dashner
26	The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, #2)	James Dashner
27	Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention	Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
28	Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience	Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
29	Educational Research: Fundamentals for the Consumer	James H. McMillan
30	A Fine Balance	Rohinton Mistry
31	Effective Classroom Management: Models and Strategies for Today’s Classrooms	Carlette Jackson Hardin
32	The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything	Ken Robinson
33	Gone Girl	Gillian Flynn
34	American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History	Chris Kyle
35	How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character	Paul Tough
36	The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited	Louisa Lim
37	Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us	Daniel H. Pink
38	The 500 (Mike Ford, #1)	Matthew Quirk
39	China Dolls	Lisa See
40	Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China	Jung Chang
41	The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers	Richard McGregor
42	Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind	Yuval Noah Harari
43	A Disobedient Girl	Ru Freeman
44	Please Look After Mom	Shin Kyung-sook
45	Seoul Survivors	Naomi Foyle
46	Deception Point	Dan Brown
47	The Street Lawyer	John Grisham
48	The Expats (Kate Moore, #1)	Chris Pavone
49	The Wasp Factory	Iain Banks
50	Tinderbox	Lisa Gornick
51	The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom	Blaine Harden
52	Journey	James A. Michener
53	Digital Fortress	Dan Brown
54	Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro
55	The Martian	Andy Weir
56	The Keepers of the House	Shirley Ann Grau
57	A People’s History of the United States	Howard Zinn
58	The Alchemist	Paulo Coelho
59	Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West	Tonio Andrade
60	1421: The Year China Discovered The World	Gavin Menzies
61	Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos	Tom Breitling
62	The Book Thief	Markus Zusak
63	When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail	Eric Jay Dolin
64	Captain Corelli’s Mandolin	Louis de Bernières
65	Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time	Dava Sobel
66	Between the World and Me	Ta-Nehisi Coates
67	The Illegal	Lawrence Hill
68	A Brief History of Time	Stephen Hawking
69	The Little Prince	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
70	The Book of General Ignorance	John Lloyd
71	The Corrections	Jonathan Franzen

Reading Challenge 2014

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:22:48 +0000

I read 39 books in 2014.

#	TITLE	AUTHOR
1	Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)	Frank Herbert
2	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)	Stieg Larsson
3	Little Women	Louisa May Alcott
4	Mosaic of Thought: Teaching Comprehension in a Reader’s Workshop	Ellin Oliver Keene
5	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Mark Twain
6	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain
7	1984	George Orwell
8	The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich	William L. Shirer
9	Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan	Jonathan Manthorpe
10	Snow Flower and the Secret Fan	Lisa See
11	A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4)	George R.R. Martin
12	A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)	George R.R. Martin
13	Steve Jobs	Walter Isaacson
14	Curious George	H.A. Rey
15	The Cat in the Hat (The Cat in the Hat, #1)	Dr. Seuss
16	Green Eggs and Ham	Dr. Seuss
17	Charlotte’s Web	E.B. White
18	The Art of War	Sun Tzu
19	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell
20	The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan, #3)	Tom Clancy
21	Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)	Michael Crichton
22	A Storm of Swords 2: Blood and Gold (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3, Part 2 of 2)	George R.R. Martin
23	The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)	J.R.R. Tolkien
24	A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)	George R.R. Martin
25	The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)	J.R.R. Tolkien
26	Starship Troopers	Robert A. Heinlein
27	The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, #1)	Douglas Adams
28	A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)	George R.R. Martin
29	Catch-22	Joseph Heller
30	The Hobbit, or There and Back Again	J.R.R. Tolkien
31	The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)	Suzanne Collins
32	Mao: The Unknown Story	Jung Chang
33	The Road	Cormac McCarthy
34	Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes	Eleanor Coerr
35	From Far Formosa, The Island, Its People And Missions	George Leslie Mackay
36	Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies	Jared Diamond
37	Imperial China 900-1800	Frederick W. Mote
38	A Thousand Splendid Suns	Khaled Hosseini
39	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

Sun, 08 Oct 2023 00:12:08 +0000

I was so excited to find this on the book shelf at my local used book store.

Four novellas are in this book, one about device freedom, one about a superhero trying to take on institutional racism, one about private health care, and one about rich preppers.

Unauthorized Bread

What would you do if you suddenly couldn’t make toast because you didn’t have the right bread? This is is a tale of our times. It’s about young immigrants who live in a subsidized apartment with all these ‘smart’ appliances that generate extra income for their landlords. They have washing machines that only work with their special soap, and toasters that only work with their special bread. These people are basically slaves to corporations in their own house. The conflict in this story comes when the toaster company goes out of business. This means that you can’t buy the authorized bread anymore, therefore your toaster is a useless brick.

Someone in the building learns how to jailbreak their device so it will toast any bread not just one bought from the company. This knowledge spreads throughout the building. Will the corporation find out? Will the punish the people? Who really owns the devices we use everyday?

This is the story that I liked the most in this collection. I am a firm believer in hardware and software freedom. I’m one of those ‘nuts’ who uses Linux, and jailbreaks every device they own. The system is fucked and I am not going to sit back and take it. I have OpenWRT on my router. I put LineageOS/GraphoneOS on my phone. My devices are mine.

This is the novella that everyone needs to read.

Model Minority

This one had a weird relationship between Superman and Batman. Superman witnesses a brutal police attack on an unarmed black man and decides he will help the man.

Sadly, this sort of shit happens everyday. ACAB.

Superman keeps getting warned by Batman not to intervene because it’ll just make things worse for the victim. Superman doesn’t listen and tries to help him. This one doesn’t feel so much about technology, but rather how the whole ‘justice’ system is corrupt.

Radicalized

As a Canadian who grew up with national healthcare and now living in Taiwan with universal health care, it is difficult to feel the rage and sorrow that I’m sure many Americans would feel when reading this story. For those that don’t know, health care is not a right for Americans. They have freedom, but also the freedom to die from a sickness they can’t afford to treat. I think I read that America is the only place in the world where people regularly file for bankruptcy to due to an expensive illness they can’t afford to treat.

The protagonist of this novella is an average American father. He works. He pays his taxes. His family is luckily enough to have health care through their jobs. Unfortunately, one of their family members gets cancer but miraculously they recover. The father copes by going on an internet forum called Fuck Cancer In Its Fucking Face. I love that name.

These people on the the forum start getting more and more radicalized. They protest against the system by going into hospitals and killing people. This reminded me of the movie John Q.

How to make people care about this? When will this ever change? This is a very sad situation that makes me angry.

The Masque of the Red Death

The world is going to end. It doesn’t matter though because you have oodles of cash, right? This is the premise behind this novella. A man creates a ‘prepper’ bunker in a remote location and stocks it with weapons, food, and other necessities to ride out the end of the world. He invites some hot babes and other friends to come. He tells them to only come when he sends the signal.

Eventually things start getting bad in the world and he gives the signal. His friends come to his bunker. Lots of things happen that you can expect: people try to get in the bunker, they start running out of certain things, so they have to go raiding, and personal relationships start to develop.

I like the ending of this one. It shows that you can’t survive alone. Humans need to pool their knowledge and services to help each other. Society only works because we have things like the fire department, libraries, and hospitals. It’s very, very, very hard to go it alone. We aren’t hunter gatherers anymore, and can’t really roll back the clock to get there.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #40 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

The Case of the Careless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 09:15:15 +0000

One of the joys of reading old detective novels from the 1940s is the antiquated language. Language has changed a lot in the past 80 years. It’s fun to discover these interesting and weird phrases.

If they start hitting the jackpot, they move into swanky hotels and apartments and put on the dog. If the police don’t get anything on them and the racket pays off, they move into the big-time.

definition behave in a pretentious or ostentatious way.

“…I’ll pay for the flowers”

“That’s mighty white of you.”

defintion: c. colloq. (orig. U.S.). [Initially] Honourable; square-dealing. Also as adv. Now somewhat rare and generally regarded as offensive.

For a moment, he held her close, then said, “Keep a stiff upper lip, kid. I think we’ve pulled a boner.”

definition: To make a foolish, silly error or blunder; to do something stupid from the word bonehead

The book itself is a fun read. Perry Mason novels are classic and they made TV shows out of them for a good reason. I love the final evidence that Perry Mason uses to figure out the case. Hint, it’s related to a kitten!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #42 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

A New Coffee Shop

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 15:11:18 +0000

I love coffee shops but I’m always filled with trepidation when trying a new one. I have a variety of complicated* requirements that will determine if I consider the coffee shop ‘good’ or ‘bad’ to frequent by myself. I have recently felt that I am going to the same coffee shops over and over again. On one hand, I think to myself, “Of course I do! Once you find an awesome coffee shop, you stick with it. It’s like family. You don’t abandon family.” On the other hand, I feel I am not getting out of my comfort zone lately and trying new things.

I don’t go to church, but instead go to coffee shops. They are important places for me. They are a place to unwind. To read a book. To enjoy time by myself without children or my wife. I also sometimes take my laptop to coffee shops and write my blog.

I started thinking about my relationship with coffee shops right now because I’m reading M Train by Patti Smith. She talks a lot about her favourite coffee shop, Cafe Ino. There is one particularly delightful story about someone sitting ‘in her seat’.

My variety of complicated requirements

My favourite coffee shops have a variety of things in common:

windows for natural light and people watching
chairs that can be leaned back on while reading
quiet, but not too quiet
open before 11 a.m.
good quality, strong coffee, preferably drip coffee
a good distance from my home or an MRT station.
cold cappuccinos! lots of holier than thou places insist that cappuccinos can only be hot. that’s just coffee elitism!
free water
a bathroom with a clear indicator if it is occupied or not
good vibes

The Plan

Today, I will try a new coffee shop. I hope it makes it on my ‘good’ list or at least becomes one of the ones I occasionally go to in ‘special’ situations. When trying a new coffee shop, I usually only bring a book. I don’t know the WiFi or plug situation, so that dissuades me from bringing my laptop.

Experience

I tried this new coffee shop. It was clean. It had good vibes. The seats have backs and are comfortable. I got there at about 10 a.m. and it was almost empty. It soon filled up.

It has great big windows which are great for people watching, though this area isn’t so busy. This is a office building area near the MRT.

I’m glad I took the chance to try a new coffee shop. I encourage all introverts such as myself to try a new coffee shop now and then and broaden your horizons.

The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:58:30 +0000

This was recommended to me by a co-worker. She’s a nut for thrillers!

This is one of those perfect, page-turning thrillers. You want to find out the ending and stay up late into the night digging into this. Parts of it are predictable, as with any good TV show or movie: the good guy will win, but how will they do it is the question.

This is a story of a police detective that has quit, retired, been forced out of the force and is in semi-retirement in the Lake District. A case comes up that is weird. People are being burned at ancient stone circles. Why do they come to the ex detective? Well, the killer has called out his name. Why?

I also read the next book in the series, Black Summer, but it wasn’t as good. It of course follows the same formula, but the story isn’t as ‘believable’ or interesting as The Puppet Show. It also could be the fact that I learned the formula and it didn’t feel as fresh the 2nd time around. Maybe the author will tweak his formula and make his books feel more interesting in book three.

Nevertheless, you can’t go wrong with this book, The Puppet Master, if you’re looking for an interesting beach read, or one for the airplane or train.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #31 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

M Train by Patti Smith

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 13:32:17 +0000

Reading this novel was a religious experience. I did not rush through this book. I treated this book with extreme care in handling it, and where and when I would read it. I reserved this book exclusively for when I went out to a coffeeshop. I wanted to deeply experience this book, not merely read it. I wanted to possess the pages, and live a little bit of this life that Patti Smith led.

Again, this was another used bookstore find. It has the outward appearance of a very old, religious book. It has no jacket cover. It’s a brown hardcover book with only one thing on the cover - an M that has been stamped into the cover. It’s stamped in there so there is an indentation when you run your fingers over it. This minimalist cover intrigued me and hinted to the special nature of the stories witin. M? M-train? What is this book about? That’s one of the draws of the book (for me!) - it’s about nothing - and everything. Actually, I’ve seen others say it is about writing which is (partly) true.

A lot of time in this book is spent at her favourite coffeeshop. Anytime she talks about coffeeshops, I feel a deep connection to Smith. She has a favourite coffeeshop and even has her ‘own’ table.

The cafe was empty, but the cook was unscrewing the outlet plate above my set. I took my book into the bathroom to read while he finished. When I emerged, the cook was gone and a woman was ready to sit in my seat.

Excuse me, this is my table.

Did you reserve it?

Well, no, but it’s my table.

Did you actually sit here? There’s nothing on the table and you have your coat on.

I stood there mutely. If this were an episode of Midsomer Murders she would surely be found strangled in a wild ravine behind an abandoned vicarage. I shrugged and sat at another table, hoping to wait her out. She spoke loudly, asking for eggs Benedict and iced coffee with skim milk, neither offered on the menu.

She’ll leave, I thought. But she didn’t. She plopped her oversized red lizard bag on my table and made numerous calls on her cell phone. There was no way to escape her odious conversation, fixed on a tracking number for some missing FedEx package. I sat and stared at the heavy white coffee mug. If this were an episode of Luther, she would be found face up in the snow with the objects of her purse arranged about her: a bodily corona like Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Such dark thoughts for the sake of a corner table. My inner Jiminy Cricket spoke up. Oh, all right, I said. May the world’s small things fill her with delight.

Good, good, spoke the cricket.

And may she purchase a lottery ticket and possess the winning number.

Unnecessary, but fine.

And may she order a thousand such bags, each one more splendid than the last, delivered and dumped by FedEx, and may she be trapped by a storeroom’s worth, without food, water, or cell phone.

I’m leaving, said my conscience.

Me too, I said, and I went back onto the street.

You feel you really get to know Smith as she recounts important things in her life. The way she tells a story, illuminates, and relates to the human experience. She talks about falling in love with a house by the beach and her dream of fixing it up.

One of my ‘rules’ when reading a book is to not read too much about the author or the book until after I have finished reading it. Once completing this book, I looked up the author on Wikipedia and realize she was not who I thought she was. I had confused the author for Ali Smith, the writer of the book Autumn. I suppose all Smith’s sound the same to me? It turns out that Patti Smith is also the same Patti Smith the singer. While digging through her music, I found she sings the song, “Because the Night”, which I am actually familiar with.

Irregardless of who I believed the author was, I choose this book and it was the right book for me. It was a wonderful read to experience over my lazy summer off. It was a book that encouraged introspection and reflection on life. The pages are luxuriously printed and thick. The cover feels solid and it just felt good to read this book.

As an added bonus, I have now rediscovered the music of Patti Smith. I also have a new mission, to actually read the author Ali Smith’s work!

She was a true artist. It’s incredible how many hats she wears and did them all well. It’s hard enough being a published author, or a rock star, but she is both. I’m pretty amazed. My review doesn’t do justice to this book. This is a great coffeeshop book when you want something that helps you relax and contemplate your existence in this world. Also, don’t forget to go and listen to her music!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #45 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

NOTE: I am no longer constraining myself to reviewing the books I read in chronological order. I write and post them when I fancy to. This is the perogative of an unpaid book reviewer.

The Puppet Show by M. W. Craven

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 14:46:39 +0800

This was recommended to me by a co-worker. She’s a nut for thrillers! In my quest to keep finding fresh reading material, I really take to hard reading recommendations made by friends and family.

This is a story of a police detective, Washington Poe, that has sort of quit, retired, been forced out of the force and is in semi-retirement in rural Cumbria. A case comes up that is weird. People are being burned at ancient stone circles. Why do they come to Washington Poe? Well, the killer has called him out. Why him?

I also read the next book in the series, Black Summer, but it wasn’t as good. It of course follows the same formula, but the story isn’t as ‘believable’ or interesting as The Puppet Show in my opinion. It also could be the fact that I learned the author’s formula, so this didn’t feel as fresh the 2nd time around. Maybe the author will tweak his formula and make his books feel more interesting in book three.

Nevertheless, you can’t go wrong with this book, The Puppet Master. If you’re looking for an interesting ‘beach’ read, or one for the airplane or the train, this will keep you entertained.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #32 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

Advice for Those Looking To Learn

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 14:42:12 +0800

I humbly offer my advice to those starting out in the world of open-source software or just looking to learn more about computers. This is for the person who just discovered linux. This is for the person who has found the F-droid store on Android and thought that it’s ‘pretty cool’. This is for someone who’s looking to start self-hosting things to become a more private person. This is basically for anybody who wants to not only use the tech, but also understand it, tinker with it, modify, customize it, and even take it apart!

I have been into Linux, privacy, and self-hosting hardcore for the past 5-10 years(?). I seriously caught the bug about 5-7 years ago when I inherited some old computers from my wife’s work, and simultaneously discovered Yunohost. Since then, I run multiple servers, in my home lab. I run two websites, Nextcloud, XMPP, SimpleX, and a few other services on my own server. It’s a fun experience to learn so much about computers. I also love the freedom I have to experiment and keep learning.

So, here are my tips for those who are just getting into this hobby… let’s just call it ‘computing’

1. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

I am a firm believer in supporting projects I care about with more than just good vibes. How many cups of coffee have you bought this month? Spare some money for those projects you use and ones you believe in. Even a few dollars a month, or a lump sum payment every year can really help. Actions speak louder than words.

Developers can’t spend time working on their project if they don’t have some monetary compensation. They have families that need to eat, just like you and I. There is also the psychological feeling of having someone donate money. It’s like a feel good high five that tells the developers, “we love it! thank you! keep it up!”.

2. Never Stop Experimenting

Don’t know if software will be useful in your life? Try it out. You will learn so much about computers, or self-hosting by just using software.

Projects also need people to use them to become better over time. They need people to submit bug reports. The developers need to hear how people are using the software. This is something that a non-developer can do.

“Fuck around and find out” is a cornerstone of computing. Embrace it!

4. Learn Something Everyday

Find your community and keep abreast of developments in your sphere of interest. The open-source world has many little enclaves, so find one you want to be part of. Follow tech blogs. Listen to linux podcasts. Join forums for software you use or are interested in learning about. There is the whole phone ROM thing. There is self-hosting.

I use Yunohost, so I’m a part of their forums. I learn from others' mistakes. I also chip in with my experience to help those who are a bit less experienced than I am. I try to take part in the community.

I recently started watching a YouTube video on how to learn Python. It seems like a cool language.

5. Embrace Upcycling

I haven’t bought a new computer since 2010. All my laptops, and servers have been donated/gifted to me by Windows users. Most of the time they have upgraded, or other times they have told me their computer is ‘too slow’. Of course, I slap linux on that baby and it runs just fine!

So make sure you are friendly to Windows users so that they donate their old systems to you. It’s good for the environment too, eh?

If you love something, you want to share it don’t you? Be that helpful computer person that people trust and rely on. This is your passion, so try to share the knoweldge and joy. Show a friend how to make an emergency Linux boot USB. Teach friends how to use more privacy respecting software by switching friends from WhatsApp to Signal. Show people that there is a way to ‘opt out’.

There is a fine balance of trying not to be an obnoxious fossbro though. See who is receptive to hearing your prosetlyzing, and take it slow. Start with switching them from Chrome to Firefox. Then maybe get them to use Signal or SimpleX. Introduce them to high quality Open Source software that runs on Windows: OBS, Kdenlive, and VLC.

please really make sure you have backups in place though!

Tech Journal - May 2023

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 15:32:46 +0800

I’m always exploring things on my computer. I ~~sometimes~~ often forget to document what I discover. I will try to be more mindful of tracking the things I learn. Maybe a few others out there will be introduced to new things I learned, too!

Arcane Dimensions Quake 1 Mod

https://www.moddb.com/mods/arcane-dimensions

A beautiful mod! The levels are intricate and made with love. There are puzzles you need to figure out, and many baddies to kill. Giblets will be flying!

Installing this is also a good way to show people how containers are really cool!

How to play on Fedora Silverblue?

Download Quake 1 pak files
Create a distrobox container (instructions here for Fedora 38 container)

distrobox-create --name quake1 --image fedora:38

Get Quaskespasm
The base Fedora 38 container won’t have some files you need:

sudo dnf install libvorbis libmad SDL2 SDL

Put Arcane Dimension in the ad folder where you extracted Quakespasm.
run Arcane Dimension in Distrobox:

./quakespasm -game ad

Obsidian Presentation mode to practice grammar

Very useful for teachers. I need to practice grammar points often with students. With this feature of Obsidian, I can practice sentenc structures with my students without me spending a lot of time making a slideshow in LibreOffice Impress.

Turn on this plugin here: Settings > Core Plugins > Slides

Example of the formatting you need to use for this to work:

Slide 1
You like hamburgers, ____?
---
Slide 2
You like hamburgers, don't you?

I hear there are a whole lot of Obsidian plugins that are very useful. I need to explore more of them.

Batocera

https://batocera.org/

Do you want a USB stick that can be work as a retro game machine? I do! The best way to describe this is a bootable form of Retroarch.

This is so awesome! It also hooks up with scraper services that can give you screenshots for each game you have in your collection, too. This is a game changer for my kids and I. I don’t need to help them choose a game. They can navigate the interface with a gamepad and can ‘see’ the different games they want to play.

I just played this for 1 week with my Grade 6 students and it was a big hit. The students loved the social experience of playing Street Fighter II Turbo (snes) and Mario Kart 64 (n64) with their friends.

The only terrible thing is now I need to buy more controllers!

Questions I still need to investigate:

How to install this on directly on a computer system?
Does it have better performance if it is installed on bare metal?

Books I Read in 2023

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 21:27:02 +0800

Due to life happening this year, I have not, nor will I be able to post individual book reviews to every book I read. I don’t want this to slow down my reading though, so I will just note the books I have read in 2023.

Once life becomes less hectic (hopefully in the summer), I will go back to reviewing books. I do miss doing it, but I just don’t have the time now. I thought I might be able to catch up later but having this hanging over my head is stressful.

Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel
Leviathan, or The Whale - Philip Hoare
The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland in the Long Twentieth Century - Yunte Huang
Babel - R.F. Kuang
When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold
The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962-1976 - Frank Dikötter
Double Star - Robert A. Heinlein
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 - Charles Yu
I was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad - Souad Mekhennet
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
Valis - Philip K. Dick
Foreigner - C.J. Cherryh

Love this book. Cherryh never fails to disapoint. This is about the human ‘ambassador’ to an alien race humans accidently colonize. Is this sci-fi or a political thriller? A bit of both! I will soon be diving into the rest of this 22 book long series.

Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency - Andy Greenberg
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers - Andy Greenberg
Boulder - Eva Baltasar

A great novella about the struggle of a lesbian couple has in the transition from being single, being in a relationship, and suddenly having children. Man Booker Intl 2023 Longlist.

Time Shelter - [still reading]

Man Booker Intl 2023 Longlist

Golden Age Detective Stories - Otto Penzler [still reading]

I will keep updating this as I finish books.

Valis by Philip K. Dick

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:15:41 +0800

This was the most challenging PKD books I’ve ever read. It is also one of the most unique and interesting. For half the novel I didn’t exactly know what was happening but things got a bit clearer near the end. I am sitting here thinking of what happened in the book and am still a bit confused.

It is quite a mind-bending novel.

This is about Horselove Fat and his life. His challenges from the mental hospital, divorces, seeing God (?). Trying to figure out what or who VALIS is? Who is the true God? I’m getting all mixed up thinking about this again. I don’t often re-read novels but I think I will make a note to read this again in 5 years.

Do not try to put down this book in the middle of a chapter. It will be very difficult to follow the story. It’s weird, and about God, time, aliens, and one deranged man.

Would I recommend this? I’m not sure. I could only recommend this to a big PKD fan that also is looking for something different then the ‘normal’ sci-fi PKD has written. This book is way, way out there.

Looking at Wikipedia it seems that a lot of the strangeness of this novel is inspired by the author’s real-life experience.

Dick recounted that as the sun glinted off the gold pendant, the reflection caused the generation of a “pink beam” of light that mesmerized him. He came to believe the beam imparted wisdom and clairvoyance, and also believed it to be intelligent. On one occasion, he was startled by a separate recurrence of the pink beam, which imparted the information that his infant son was ill. The Dicks rushed the child to the hospital, where the illness was confirmed by professional diagnosis.[38][verification needed]

After the woman’s departure, Dick began experiencing strange hallucinations. Although initially attributing them to side effects from medication, he considered this explanation implausible after weeks of continued hallucination. He told Charles Platt:

“I experienced an invasion of my mind by a transcendentally rational mind, as if I had been insane all my life and suddenly I had become sane."[39]

Throughout February and March 1974, Dick experienced a series of hallucinations which he referred to as “2-3-74”,[25] shorthand for February–March 1974. Aside from the “pink beam”, he described the initial hallucinations as geometric patterns, and, occasionally, brief pictures of Jesus and ancient Rome. As the hallucinations increased in duration and frequency, Dick claimed he began to live two parallel lives—one as himself, “Philip K. Dick”, and one as “Thomas”,[40] a Christian persecuted by Romans in the first century AD. He referred to the “transcendentally rational mind” as “Zebra”, “God” and “VALIS” (an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System). He wrote about the experiences, first in the semi-autobiographical novel Radio Free Albemuth, then in VALIS, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer and the unfinished The Owl in Daylight (the VALIS trilogy).[citation needed]

After reading this Wikipedia page, I’m even more confused about this book. I’m not sure if I feel this work is more incredible, or just his hallucinations packaged up in a nice book format. Wow.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #12 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold by Alia Trabucco Zerán

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 13:50:02 +0800

Four stories of Chilean murders in the twentieth century by women. This is a crime novel but she doesn’t only talk about their murder, but also their crime of breaking the mold of a traditional woman.

She analyzes the murder from multiple angles and looks at how they are portrayed in: the court transcripts, movies or books that took their inspiration from the murder, and media coverage. She looks at how the women killers are talked about in comparison to men.

This is a feminist book for sure. It is about crime but also a lot about the feminist lens of how the crimes were experienced by people living in Chile at the time. If you want more of a straight true crime book, I’d recommend something I recently read -Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks.

Funny note: There are pictures of some of the murders in the book. There was one picture of some detectives holding up an arm and leg from a dismembered man that I had to quickly move past while reading on the subway. That was a bit awkward.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #6 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

Babel by R.F. Kuang

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 15:21:05 +0800

Babel by R.F. Kuang

This was such a fun book. Don’t be turned off because it seems like a YA novel. It is a YA novel, but a fun one. I love the focus on etmolygy on meaning of words and translations between languages.

The story follows the boy Robin from Canton, modern day Hong Kong, who is ‘adopted’ by a British scholar who works at the Babel translation institute. Silver is imbibe there with magical power through the power of translantion word pairs. The same word in different languages with different meanings imparts the silver and consequently the object it is installed in with special properties. The British have corned the market on the silver trade and thus are the most powerful empire in the world.

The gears of history were turning fast in England. The world was getting smaller, more mechanized, and more unequal, and it was as yet unclear where things would end up, or what that would mean for Babel, or for the Empire itself.

The setting of the book is the mid 1800s. Most of the action takes place on the campus of Oxford University. I have never been there, but the author has done a lot of research to make the time period come alive.

Now, this is a sci-fi book, or maybe historical fiction and but the book is really about colonialism. Britain keeps the other nations down by selling them silver enhanced objects. They don’t teach other nations how to do the silverworking. At the same time Britain is exporting opium to China legally and illegally. This was also set around the time of The Opium war, didn’t I mention that?

Robin saw a great spider’s web in his mind then. Cotten from India to Britain, opium from India to China, silver becoming tea and porcelain in China, and everything flowing back to Britain . It sounded so abstract - just categories of use, exchange, and value - until it wasn’t; until you realized the web you lived in and the exploitations your lifestyle demanded, until you saw looming above it all the spectre of colonial labour and colonial pain.

The main character eventually learns about the evil things that Britain with the support of Babel is doing all over the world. He has to choose to continue working in his comfortable translation job, or rebel and try to bring down the empire.

Colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking, a body endowed with reason. It is naked violence and only gives in when confronted with greater violence. – Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Richard Philcox

All the parts of this novel: silver working magic, historical realism of Oxford University and The Opium war, and the criticism of colonialism make this a great read. I imagine it would be a fun novel to read in class with students, too. Students usually get US history jammed down their throat but are pretty ignorant of other world histories.

“It’s a cushy posting if what you want is to travel abroad on someone else’s money,” said Anthony. “But academics by nature are a solitary, sedentary lot. Travel sounds fun until you realize what you really want is to stay at home with a cup of tea and a stack of books by a warm fire.”

This is me for sure!

These quotes below really speak to the theme of colonialism in the book.

“There are no kind masters, Letty,” Anthony continued. “It doesn’t matter how lenient, how gracious, how invested in your education they make out to be. Masters are masters in the end.”

There is a rift between some characters who want to use violence to bring about the end of the British empire, and those that don’t.

“Violence shows them how much we’re willing to give up,” said Griffin. “Violence is the only language they understand, because their system of extraction is inherently violent. Violence shocks the system. And the system cannot survive the shock. You have no idea what you’re capable of, truly. You can’t imagien how the world might shift unless you pull the trigger.” Griffin pointed at the middle birch. “Pull the trigger, kid.”

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #5 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

The Big Red book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland by Yunte Huang

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 15:25:55 +0800

The Big Red book of Modern Chinese Literature: Writings from the Mainland by Yunte Huang

This is a massive, and important book that helps you explore some of the most important Chinese literature from 1912. I have savored this book over about 1 year and just recently finished it. This book is dense. It is no sit-on-the-subway-and-read-it-casually-book. This is a serious scholarly work.

Each writer that is featured has a bio page that tells you why the author was considered important enough to put int he book, and tells you about their notable works. Reading this book will expose you to the big names in Chinese literature.

I have nothing negative to say about the book except that I wish the poetry was bilingual. I’m not sure how much that would benefit many people but as someone living in Taiwan, and has a small knoweldge of Chinese, I’d like to see how the original poetry flows.

NOTE: I remember I bought this a the Big Bad Wolf sale in Taiwan years ago. This is the type of massive history book that I usually read on my ereader but it was only $99 NTD which is a steal for a 600+ page hardcover book. I wonder when will Big Bad Wolf ever come back to Taiwan? I hope soon!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #4 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin D. Mitnick

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 15:24:05 +0800

A classic book about social engineering before the term was even coined. I remember this being one of the first ‘hackers’ I had heard about when I was growing up.

Mitnick Message Man has invented many wonderful tings that have changed the world and our way of life. But for every good use of technology, whether a computer, telephone, or the Internet, someone will always find a way to abuse it for his or her own purposes

This book is a series of real stories and examples of social engineering exploit examples. As this book was written in 2002 and references the author’s own experiences with social engineering in the 90s, expect there are many examples with fax machines and phone networks. A lot of the hacks are low tech, but the author shows how you can get little pieces of information from differnet sources, and then keep manipulating people to give you more and more information.

A lot of this intelligence is now gathered with open source intelligence gahtering (OSINT) using the internet, but it was different in the 90s. This book also suffers by being very repetiative in parts. This should’ve been a much shorter book. I was just breezing through it near the end so that I could finish it.

It was an interesting read but I’m sure you can probably find a more up-to-date book about social engineering. I picked up this book in Humble Bundle of 5 books for $1 USD, so I am happy with the value I got out of this book.

Rating: ★★★

Book #3 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

PineBuds Pro Review

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 19:51:58 +0800

PineBuds Pro Review

My previous ear buds were given to me by a friend. I don’t really like the ewaste that these headphones create because what do I do with them after the battery stops working? After using a set for a year, I found that I really enjoyed having wireless earbuds. Unfortunatley, one day my ear buds fell out of my ears and got run over by a car. I suffered through using them for a good while after that but they were not as reliable as before. Surprising eh?

When I heard that Pine64 was making the PineBuds Pro, I was very interested. I do not like giving my money to any of the big tech companies and most of my tech is passed down to me second-hand. I already own a Pinephone. It’s a fun toy but not a daily driver. I also own a Pinetime. This is something simple and it gets the job done. I got my wife to buy me PineBuds Pro for Christmas.

I have been using these ear buds for over a month on a daily basis. They are pretty neat!

Positives!

Did not have to support a big tech company I hate like Samsung, or Sony
Supporting a Linux First company
Solid build quality
Case slides open nicely
No data sent to Big Tech

Negatives!

The ‘button tapping’ on the ear buds is finicky. Sometimes you just have to put the ear buds back in the case, to ‘reset them’ and try again. The worst is when you are tyring to get Active Noise Cancellation mode. You need to tap it 3 times. Sometimes it thinks you tapped only once, so it increases the volume. Sometimes, it thinks you only tapped it 2 times, and that stops the music.
Bulky! They stick out of your ear a lot. They are very ‘tall’.
Hard to get out of the case. I am a big guy with big fingers and it’s hard to pry them out of the case for me. I have to pinch them out and sometimes they slip out of my fingers.
Big case. It’s a big rectangular prism that does not sit nicely in your pocket. I wish it was slimmer.
Awkward name. PineBuds Pro, with the plural in the middle, feels strange to me.

Other Notes

Sound quality is good. I have another set of bluetooth ear buds that doesn’t have ANC but these are far superior.
Connect very quickly to my phone.
There is a soothing English voice that tells you when your ear buds are connected.

Conclusion

I am very happy with them after using them daily. I am happy to support Pine64 rather than a big tech company. I can live with the minor quirks. I understand that a new product won’t be a sleek, or small as the big tech. Does that mean you should buy them? If you want. Remember to wait until your current ear buds are broken to cut down on e-waste.

Leviathan: Or, The Whale by Philip Hoare

Wed, 08 Feb 2023 22:38:00 +0800

An exploration of whales. The author has a fascination with them, as most of us do (or am I just projecting?). This book mentions Moby Dick a lot. If haven’t read it, you will miss a lot of nuance from this book. Also, why haven’t you read Moby Dick yet? When I first started reading this book, I was sort of confused about why it was talking about Moby Dick so much. You have been warned!

“Whales existed before man, but they have been known to us only for two or three generations: until the invention of underwater photography, we hardly knew what they looked like. It was only after we had seen the Earth from orbiting spaceships that the first free-swimming whale was photographed underwater. The first underwater film of sperm whales, off the coast of Sri Lanka, was not taken until 1984; our images of these huge placid creatures moving gracefully and silently through the ocean are more recent than the use of personal computers. We knew what the world looked like before we knew what the whale looked like.”

What topics does the author cover?

The author explores whales in pop-culture. He talks about parts of the Moby Dick novel. He visits the locations of Moby Dick. He gives us history lessons on whales, and whaling cities. He approaches the subjects of “whales” from all angles. He makes it very personal at times, and some parts of the novel read a bit as a journal.

One of my favourite parts of the book was when he describes swimming with the whales. I could picture it in my head and I wish I could’ve done that but it also sounded terrifiying. What an experience that must’ve been! Whales are so big and make us humans seem so small and insignificant.

It is a bit rambling at points but I also have a deep fascination with Moby Dick, the whaling industry, and whales, as does the author. You should probably not read this book unless you are seriosuly interested in these things as well.

My favourite whale is the humpback whale. What’s yours?

Rating: ★★★★

Book #2 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 23:08:15 +0800

This book has a lot of good things going for it. I heard about this book from my co-worker. She gushed about this one and how good it was. I had heard the name before. I have already read one of here previous books, Station Eleven and that book was really good! I also appreciate reading books by Canadian authors in Canadian settings. (Do all books and movies need to be set in New York city? Seriously!) This book has also gotten lots of buzz on the book lists, which I do take into account; who doesn’t want to read the best books? All these reasons caused me to search this one out.

The book follows a bunch of different characters across different countries, and times. They all turn out to be connected in this weird timeline of our universe. You really can’t say too much about this or you will risk ruining the adventure. I have many feelings about this book but they are hard to put down in words.

The author wrote this during the pandemic and you can sort of feel that vibe throughout but what exactly is the COVID-19. Maybe this quote will give you a feeling about what I mean.

“My point is, there’s always something. I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world.”

As I said, I really enjoyed this book and it gave me all sorts of feels. I was glad to have picked this book to read as my first book of 2023. Let’s hope we have a bit more of a ‘normal year’, if we can even define normal anymore.

“Pandemics don’t approach like wars, with the distant thud of artillery growing louder every day and flashes of bombs on the horizon. The arrive in retrospect, essentially. It’s disorienting. The pandemic is far away and then it’s all around you with seemingly no intermediate step.”

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #1 in my 2023 Reading Challenge

My Computer Hardware

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 13:04:40 +0800

An inventory of my computers:

All computers are running Fedora Silverblue 37.*
All computers were handed down to me.*

…unless otherwise noted

I always am finding myself looking up this information at times, so why not keep this information in a centralized location? Also, it’s fun to share with other computer nerds the hardware I’m running.

Laptops

ASUS VivoBook X415EA 2020 (primary system)
- 11th gen Intel i5-113G7 (8 cores) @ 4.2 GHz
- Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2)
- 512 GB SSD HD
- 8 GB RAM
ASUS Laptop (work computer)
- might be upgraded to Asus Expertbook in February
Asus Republic of Gamer G73SW 2010 (backup system at home)
- Intel i7-2630QM (8) @ 2.9 GHz
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
- 8 GB RAM
Acer Aspire Z1801 All-in-One (2015) (another system at home)
- Intel i3-2120 (4 cores) @ 3.3 GHz
- 6 GB RAM
HP Pavillion x360 Convertible 11-ad014TU (2015) (my coffeeshop computer)
- Intel Celeron N3350 (2) @ 2.4 GHz
- 8 GB RAM
Macbook Pro (2010) (used as RAID server, I actually bought this system)
- Intel i5 (2.4 GHz)
- 4 GB RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
- Geekbench6 score: Single 1813 / Multicore 3914

Desktops

Lenovo Ideacenter Q190 (my Yunohost server, Debian 11)
- 2nd Gen Intel i3-2365M (4 cores) @ 1.4 GHz
- 8 GB RAM
Lenovo Ideacenter Q190 (extra backup machine, not used)

ARM

NanoPi R2S (pihole system, DietPi, bought this)
- Rockchip RK3328 (4 cores) @ 1.3 GHz
- 1 GB DDR4 RAM
NanoPi R1 (portable/backup router, FriendlyWRT, bought this)
- Allwinner H3, (4 cores) @ 1.2 GHz
- 1 GB DDR3 RAM

Better Phones!

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 21:37:58 +0800

I hate the current ecosystem of phones. Proprietary, locked down software on proprietary hardware that is not even supported with firmware or security updates for more than a year or two. The software is riddled with surveillance, and tracking from the big companies like Google or Apple.

You don’t have to just use Android or iOS. There are options for Better Phones with better operating systems, better hardware, and better software..

Better Software

LineageOS - Android based operating system that runs on many types of android phones.
GrapheneOS - Only runs on Google Pixel phones, more security focused than LineageOS.
CalyxOS - Android based operating system that runs Google Pixel phones and the Fairphone 4.
/e/OS - DeGoogled Android based operating system.
PostmarketOS - Mostly for Linux phones.
Mobian - Based on Debian. For Linux phones.
Ubuntu Touch - Mostly for Linux phones.

Better Hardware

SHIFTphones - Fair wages. No child labor.
Fairphone - Phone hardware built with fairtrade gold and recycled materials. 5 year warranty. User replacable parts. Only available in Europe.
Murena - New phones running /e/OS.
Purism Librem5 - Linux phone.
volla phones
NitroPhone - From the makers of NitroKey.
Pinephone Pro by Pine64 - Linux phone.
F(x)tec Pro1-X - Full keyboard.
Planet Com Phones - Full keyboard.

Better App Stores

F-Droid - App store with mostly FOSS apps.
Droid-ify - Better app front-end for official F-Droid app store. Notificaitons work for updates on deGoogled phones.
Aurora Store - Anonymous front-end to access apps from the Google Play store. Can also download this app on F-Droid.

Where to Buy Linux Laptops?

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 14:53:51 +0800

Why should you buy Linux laptops?

your hardware will just work with linux, so you won’t waste your time with hacky solutions
you will be supporting linux friendly manufacturers and sending a clear market signal that people who like linux buy laptops!
you will have the freedom to run anything you want on your laptop

Laptop Brands with GNU/Linux Preinstalled

NOTE: This list is in no particular order, it was pulled from this Mastodon post. I am putting it here for posterity for the one glorious day I will buy a new laptop and people stop giving me old laptops (so never?)

New x86 Laptops

Lenovo https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/linux-laptops-desktops/
Dell https://www.dell.com/en-us/lp/linux-systems
Purism https://puri.sm
Kubuntu Focus https://kfocus.org
System76 https://system76.com
Slimbook https://slimbook.es/en/store
Star Labs https://starlabs.systems
Tuxedo https://www.tuxedocomputers.com
Nitrokey https://shop.nitrokey.com
LWL https://laptopwithlinux.com/
MintBox https://linuxmint.com/store.php
Technoethical https://tehnoetic.com
Libiquity https://www.libiquity.com
Vikings https://store.vikings.net/en
Respects Your Freedom https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops
MostlyHarmless https://mostlyharmless.io/computers
Ekimia https://ekimia.fr/
Entroware https://www.entroware.com/store/

Refurbished x86 Laptops

Minifree https://minifree.org

New ARM Laptops

Pine64 https://www.pine64.com/

Other Linux Hardware Sellers

ThinkPenguin https://www.thinkpenguin.com

I will make another list for Non-Google Phone Hardware in the future.

2022 Reading Challenge

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 20:37:51 +0800

2022 Reading Challenge

The year is over and there were so many books I wanted to read but did not have a chance, too. I won’t lament those great books I didn’t manage to fit into 2022 because I have a whole new year to read now!

It was a difficult year of unforeseen events and challenges: doing a university course while working full-time, an unexpected death in the family, and housing renovations.

I usually set a basic ‘goal’ of reading 100 novels every year. I didn’t feel as much pressure to hit my goal this year. Not having Goodreads is a bit of a burden off my shoulders. I think part of the pressure of Goodreads for me was trying to read more books, and more interesting books than my friends. I was free of these background pressures this year. I still made good progress. I managed to read 89 books.

Books I Read in 2022

Books read in 2022: 89

Pages read in 2022: 25,140

Of all the books I read, there was a great variety in quality; some were mere amusements like a summer action blockbuster movie, others were interesting, and others were so incredible that they still linger in my thoughts. I highlighted my most memorable books I read this year. These are books that rocked my world. I left a brief description of why and linked to my reviews.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Cold War Correspondent (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11): A Korean War Tale by Nathan Hale

A fascinating graphic novel that paints the broad strokes of the Korean War. This lead me to read the Max Hastings book right after it because I became fascinated with this ‘forgotten war’.

The Korean War (Pan Military Classics) by Max Hastings
Kirinyaga (A Fable of Utopia, #1) by Mike Resnick
Garfield Goes to Waist: His 18th Book by Jim Davis
Power & Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

An easy to read history about a time-period you think you know about because knights and the plague but actually you probably know very little about. It is broken down into themes that are concise, yet illuminating. Changed my understanding of the time period, and Europe.

[Five Preludes & a Fugue (Yeoyu, #1) by Cheon Heerahn](Five Preludes & A Fuge by Emily Yae Won)

Beautiful story of letters between the daughter of the person who committed suicide and a person who witnessed the suicide. Love the ending on this one!

Old Wrestler (Yeoyu, #2) by Jeon Sungtae
The Flock of Ba-Hui and Other Stories by Oobmab

My introduction to Lovecraftian tales without ever reading Lovecraft. This lead me to read another fascinating book actually by H.P. Lovecraft. I also bought this book from one of my favourite small publishers, Camphor Press.

Garfield World-Wide (Garfield, #15) by Jim Davis
Imperium (Granta Editions) by Ryszard Kapuściński
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton

I have a deep fascination with the Age of Sail and also Arctic/Antarctic exploration. This was such a well researched story about a very harrowing trip. This lead me to read another book about another cursed expedition, The Franklin Expedition.

The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization by Vince Beiser
The Promise by Damon Galgut
The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
The Eighth Day of the Week by Marek Hłasko
Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie
Putin’s People by Catherine Belton
Snoopy’s Love Book by Charles M. Schulz
Migrante by J.W. Henley
Killing the Second Dog by Marek Hłasko

Another strange book from one of my favourite, but not-very-well-known authors Marek Hlasko. His books stay with me long after I’ve finished them. They are filled with such broken characters. He writes from

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
DK: Money by Joe Cribb
The Nobility of Failure by Ivan Morris
Europa (Yeoyu, #3) by Han Kang
Garfield Tips the Scales (Garfield, #8) by Jim Davis
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

Some weird tales here. South Korean authors can be counted to give you a healthy dose of strange, unsettling stoires.

Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1) by John Steinbeck
The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy
Deadwood by Pete Dexter

Funny, and realistic story of gun slingers trying to get by in the wild west.

Garfield Out to Lunch (Garfield, #12) by Jim Davis
Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience (Vintage) by Gitta Sereny
Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War by Nicholas Mulder
Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappé
My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood
All Backs Were Turned by Marek Hłasko
At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution by Nils Melzer

The sad fate of the brave whistleblower who dares challenge US hegemony still continues to this day. A sobering read on how nation states will try to crush you if you leak their dirty laundry.

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Shin Kyung-sook
Garfield Says a Mouthful (Garfield, #21) by Jim Davis
Stoner by John Williams
Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
War and Peas: Funny Comics for Dirty Lovers by Jonathan Kunz
Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern by Jing Tsu
Britain’s Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt by Richard Gott
SSH Mastery: OpenSSH, PuTTY, Tunnels and Keys by Michael W. Lucas
Demons (Yeoyu, #7) by Kang Hwagil
Savaged by Systemd: an Erotic Unix Encounter by Michael Warren Lucas
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov
The Graveyard by Marek Hłasko
The Witch Boy (The Witch Boy, #1) by Molly Knox Ostertag
The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix#03: Mary Anne Saves The Day by Ann M. Martin
Kristy’s Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1) by Raina Telgemeier
The Truth About Stacey by Raina Telgemeier
The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor
A Taipei Mutt by Eric Mader-Lin
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

Heroic, true story of a couple in Nazi Germany resisting. I devoured the wikipedia page after reading this book.

A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
The Centauri Device by M. John Harrison
The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh
Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Space Boy Volume 1 (Space Boy, #1) by Stephen McCranie
Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder
git commit murder by Michael Warren Lucas

Funny, nerdy murder mystery by an author I follow on the Fediverse. This is a for those that like mystery novels and know what git commit means.

Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures and Innovations by Mary Beard
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder

Led to read this book because of the unfolding tragedy happening in Ukraine. Reading this book changed my perspective on World War 2 and makes me wonder why did the Soviet Union escape WW2 as a ‘good guy’ when they were opportunistic and just as blood thirsty as Nazi Germany.

git sync murder by Michael Warren Lucas
Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe by Serhii Plokhy

The best read of the year. I was only born in 1983, so I did not know about this history of lies, corruption, and heroism. It’s incredible how close to destruction the whole European continent came due to this man-made disaster. The repercussions of Chernobyl reverberate to this day. I found the incredible HBO mini-series Chernobyl after reading this. Read this and then watch the HBO series.

Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks
(I’m not sure what book #82 was.)
Non-Stop by Brian W. Aldiss
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
Delusions of the Crowd by William J. Bernstein
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
Traffic Power Structure by Planka.nu
In the Beginning…was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson
The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

Why hasn’t this been made into a movie yet? Incredible true story of the most valuable MI6 double agent. His story basically follows all of the Cold War, too. This was a pageturner for me!

NOTE: If you want to read my review for any of the books above, please use the search function of my blog and look for the title or the author. I have all the author names as tags, so that might be the easiest way to find them.

Were there any amazing books I missed? Please message me on the Fediverse at: @elias@go.arkadi.one. I would love to add more books to my towering list of “Books to Read”.

I’d also love to hear what were your most memorable books of the year? why?

Now, it’s time to start my 2023 Reading Challenge. I’ll aim for 100 books again with the knowledge I probably won’t hit that number.

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

Wed, 28 Dec 2022 20:17:12 +0800

The incredible true story of one of the greatest assets every recruited by MI6 during the Cold War. This is the story of a rising star in the USSR who becomes disillusioned to the system while working as a KGB agent outside of the USSR. He turns into a double agent for MI6. His activities are uncovered by another double agent from the other side. This required him to make an incredible escape from Moscow, through Finland, then Norway and back to the U.K. This book is a great overview of the whole Cold War era. It traces the history of the spy along with the contours of Cold War.

In a craven and hierarchical organization, the only thing more dangerous than revealing your own ignorance is to draw attention to the stupidity of the boss.

Oh boy. That applies to every school I’ve ever worked at!

If you like spy movies, this book should excite you. This story was more exciting than most spy movies I’ve watched. It’s even more amazing since this is a true story.

Interesting tidbits

“The ELMEN team nicknamed themselves “the Nadgers”. A slang term from The Goon Show in 1950s. Also slang for testicles.
September 1st, 1983 a Soviet plane shot down a Korean Air 747 that went into soviet airspace. This killed 269 passengers and crew. Wow, it’s crazy that this happened and it didn’t set off WW3. I was born right as this happened so I had never even heard of this. Now, I’ll be deep-diving into Wikipedia to find out more about this.
The term they use when they kick out spies from embassies for spying:

Guk was declared persona non grata for “activities incompatible with his diplomatic status," …
On the term ‘Finlandization’:

The Finns deeply resented the term “Finlandization,” but it accurately represented the situation of a country forced to look both ways, keen to be seen as Western but unwilling and unable to alienate the Soviet Union. The Finnish cartoonist Kari Suomalainen once described his country’s uncomfortable position as “the art of bowing to the East without mooning the West”. It’s funny that the Soviet Union was once the East, now the great power in the East is China.
The book that Gordievsky used to signal to his friend that he was going to escape the Soviet Union. He was lucky that his friend missed the reference:

…“Mr. Harrington’s Washing” is the tale of a British spy who escapes from revolutionary Russia through Finland.
After the Soviets realized that a spy had escaped Moscow many people were sacked or demoted.

Among those affected was Vladimir Putin, a product of the Leningrad KGB who saw most of his friends, colleagues, and patrons purged as a direct consequence of Gordiesky’s escape.
This is how spies get your hooks into you.

For many years, the KGB used the acronym MICE to identify the four mainsprings of spying: Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #89 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

In the Beginning...was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson

Sun, 25 Dec 2022 20:27:19 +0800

Summary

The author you know and love from his sci-fi novels like Cryptonomicon and Snowcrash pontificates on his love of linux and the command line. This is a short book. It’s actually like a really long essay. He goes into many different topics from GUIs, metaphors used in computing, linux, and operating systems.

It’s worth reading for the earlier chapters. He explains the Mac, Windows, and Linux ecosystem in the very early days with fun metaphors. The later sections have not aged well. He was writing this in the time when Apple was close to bankruptcy and had yet ‘invented’ the iPhone. He uses the metaphor Eloi and Morlocks a lot which is apparently a reference to something in H.G. Wells - The Time Machine. He makes some great observations on a lot of things but also seems to be ranting at times.

A snippet on people trying to choose an operating system:

HACKER WITH BULLHORN (linux): “Save your money! Accept one of our free tanks! It is invulnerable, and can drive across rocks and swamps at ninety miles and hour while getting a hundred miles to the gallon!”

PROSPECTIVE STATION WAGON (windows) BUYER: “I know what you say is true…but…er…I don’t know how to maintain a tank!”

BULLHORN: “You don’t know how to maintain a station wagon either! These are the kind of fun metaphors you can expect in the first few chapters. After that, it goes off the rails.

On why the command line is perfect for computers…

Humans are conversant in many media (music, dance, painting), but all of them are analog except for the written word, which is naturally expressed in the digital form (i.e. it is a series of discrete symbols - every letter in every book is a member of a certain character set, every “a” is the same as every other “a”, and so on). …digital signals are better to work with than analog ones because they are easily copied, transmitted, and error-checked. Unlike analog signals, they are not doomed to degradation over time and distance.

On GUIs

The OS has (therefore) become a sort of intellectual labor-saving device that tries to translate humans' vaguely expressed intention into bits.

This is why I dislike Windows. I love and appreciate GUIs, but sometimes you want to go into the command line and automate something, or check something is set to a certain value without making 20 mouse clicks. Often, some settings in Windows are not even possible to change via the command line. The GUI has abstracted computing so much that any idiot can use a computer. This is both positive and negative. It is the same way that any dummy can drive a car even if they don’t know how to change the oil. I guess I’m just a hacker and a tinkerer because I endevaour to undrestand how the machines and tech I use work. I am fascinated by it and want to have a deep understanding of it. Others just look at computers like a hammer, it’s a useful thing to do a task and nothing more.

He discusses the metaphors underlying most modern operating systems.

Consider only one word: “document.” When we document something in the real world, we make fixed permanent, immutable records of it. But computer documents are volatile, ephemeral constellations of data.

By using GUIs all the time we have insensibly bought into a premise that few people would have accepted if it were presented to them bluntly: namely, that hard things can be made easy, and complicated things simple, by putting the right interface on them.

Rating: ★★★

Book #88 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Traffic Power Structure by Planka.nu

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 19:18:23 +0800

A manifesto for an anti-car advocacy group in the Sweden. This is a manifesto about why cars not healthy for our communites, or the climate. It makes many convincing arguments why public transportation should be free for all.

Planka.nu fights for fare free public transportation, where workers and commuters are in charge. We also want to topple the traffic power structure, where cities are built for cars and mobility is forced upon us.

Read more about their history on their website.

Some people will not agree with this advocacy group but I do broadly agree with them. Being able to afford a car is for the rich. The poor, disabled, and elderly are stuck on inefficient, expensive, and inconvenient public transportation. Electric cars are not the saviour of our earth. There is simply not enough space in the world for everyone to drive a car, and park a car. We need to find other solutions. Some of these solutions will be technological, and others will be a shift in mindset about travelling.

It’s a good read and I recommend it. The arguments they make in the earlier chapters are stronger than the later chapters. Whether you agree with them or not, we have to all agree that we need to find a better balance between public transportation and cars.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #87 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 19:14:28 +0800

This book opened my eyes to microscopic world in our guts and in the bodies of animals in the world. We think that humans are oh so smart and know a lot about the world. We do know so much about the world but it often feels we know less about the parasites living in our bodies than we do about the planets out there in space.

The splits up the book into manageable chunks. Every chapter is self-contained and can be easily read in one sitting. Each chapter focuses on a specific parasite, or type of parasite. They are truly fascinating organisms that have very unique life cycles. It’s often difficult to recognize the different forms of the parasite depending on what host it is in.

He doesn’t only talk about negative parasites. Many parasites are in symbiosis with the host. In fact, in one chapter there was interesting research how poorer people had some more beneficial parasites in their intestines. It seems like parasites are something we need for life to be healthy on earth. They seem to be a sort of safety valve stop some species from becoming too numerous. It seems we are only scratching the surface on our understanding of most of these parasites.

This is a great book for traveling on the bus or subway. It is easy to jump into and written in a straight forward manner. He does not use intimidating scientist language. This book certainly stokes my interesting parasites and would like to read more about a few of these incredible organisms.

NOTE: Me taking so long to finish writing this review in no way speaks to the quality of this book. If you can believe it, the author actually has a tapeworm named after him. Hah!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #86 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Delusions of the Crowd: Why People Go Mad in Groups by William J. Bernstein

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 12:24:52 +0800

This was a fascinating but also frustrating read. It chronicled the “manias” that have gripped people including ponzi schemes, stock schemes, and religious cults. It isn’t hard to see how some of the previous delusions that have gripped people look disturbingly similar to the current crypto craze.

Few things corrode journalistic excellence as the ease of writing about the revolutionary ventures of brilliant businessmen, who with alarming frequency grace magazine covers, first as heroes, then as accused felons.

I like how he talked about narrative. Narrative is a way that newspapers package stories because they are stories. Humans like stories. Stories are ways of understanding things. This is how we can fall for schemes, or scams because the story just sounds so good.

In the world of psychology, this is called “transportation.” Psychologist Richard Gerrig defines a narrative as a device that mentally transports the listener or reader away from their immediate surroundings; when it ends, they return to their surroundings “somewhat changed by the journey.”

This is why we love books and video games. It feels like a lived experience.

As put by Emily Dickinson, There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry - This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll - How frugal is the Chariot That bears the Human Soul.

How beautiful is that passage?

Sometimes, the author went into excruciating detail and seems to lose the plot a bit when it got into the religious mania. He had to inttoduce so much back story, and then of course introduce the people and their life history. This is a very standard type of non-fiction writing that peole use in books like this. It is a good way to introduce people that are important in the present but sometimes it got tedious. As shown in the below example I just made up:

Person did this very important things. Person grew up here and did this stuff. Then lots of other stuff. (10 pages later) Person did this important thing. (Then the author finally gets tot he point of why we need to know about this person).

The chapters were very long. I am a hard-core reader but struggled to get through some of the chapters in one sitting. There weren’t any headings in the chapter, so I found it difficult to find somewhere to put down the books. Authors, please give readers a place where we can take a break. If I do stop in the middle of a chapter, I will find it hard to get back into the flow of the chapter.

The topics he prsents are very important but the book needs better editing to make it flow together better. Also, I think some parts of the book could be told in a much snappier way.

On their surfaces, the religious and financial events appear to prepresent different phenomena, but they were powered by the same social and psychological mechanisms: the irrestible power of narratives; the human proclivity to imagine patterns where there were none; the overweening hubris and overconfidence of both their leaders and followers; and, above all, the overwhelming proclivity of human behings to imitate the behaviour of those around them, no matter how factually baseless or self-destructive.

Read that and tell me you aren’t thinking of FTX, crypto, and Sam Bankman Fried. It feels like a whole book could be written just about crypto. This feels like a mania to me.

The parts of the book about religious manias feel like they have less accompanying research than the financial manias. I would like to have more details on research into the manias and how people fall for them. I guess it’s harder to quantify why people get ‘fooled’ for rreligious manias? Or if you push it too far, you might even start questioning why people believe in religion at all? The author seems to really disdain religious manias.

Some of the quotes in this book are too perfect and should be reused in a book about crypto:

Mirroring the expectations of end-times adherents, few beliefs are more agreeable than the promise of effortless and unbounded wealth, and its acolytes do not easily part with so comforting a notion. For the faithful, the path of least resistance runs through a balanced state of disagree/dislike, labeling skeptics dim bulbs who “don’t get it”.

Another:

Fred Schwed puts it most succinctly: “The burnt customer certainly prefers to believe that he has been robbed rather than that he has been a fool on the advice of fools.”

The part of the book where he talks about Christian Evangelicals/Christian Zionists really made me understand the situation in Israel and the strong relationship that USA seems to have with them. This section of the book almost seems like it could be spun out into a book by itself. It talks about Balfour declaration, how the Christians are trying to help Israel bring about revelation, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the rapture. The author sums up the whole situation in the Middle East most wonderfully:

If there is a cataclysmic war in the Middle East, it will likely result from God telling different people different things…

I found many things to like about this book, but as a whole it suffers from too large a scope, and disorganization. It feels like there are two books in here: financial scams/Ponzi schemes, and the Christian Zionist topic. I still learned a lot from this book but I wouldn’t recommend this to others to read. I’m sure there must be better books on these more specific topics. I don’t regret reading it but parts of it were a slog and those without patience will most likely give up about partway through this book.

Rating: ★★★

Book #85 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Installing Tailscale on Fedora Silverblue

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 19:42:10 +0800

Installing programs that require a repository are a bit different when installing them on Fedora Silverblue. You don’t have dnf, so you need to add the repo file into Fedora. Then, you can use rpm-ostree to install tailscale.

You will need to modifty the standard Fedora installation instructions found on Tailscale. Open your terminal and follow the instructions below.

Move to the repository directory.
```
cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
```

Download the repository file using wget.

sudo wget https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/fedora/tailscale.repo

Install the tailscale application with rpm-ostree.
```
rpm-ostree install tailscale
```
Reboot Fedora Silverblue.
```
systemctl reboot
```
User systemctl to start the service so it will start everytime you boot your machine.
```
sudo systemctl enable --now tailscaled
```
Start tailscale and login with your web browser.
```
sudo tailscale up
```
You can now confirm you are connected to tailscale.
```
tailscale ip -4
```

Fediverse on the Web

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:47:03 +0800

The Fediverse on the Web

collated by Strypey https://pad.disroot.org/p/fediverse-on-the-web

So, now that Twitter is burning, you’ve decided to learn more about the Fediverse? Some might just call it Mastodon but it is actually a bunch of linked services that communicate with ActivityPub. Think of it like email. bob@gmail.com can communite with jane@hotmail.com using the ‘email protocol’.

Coverage (writing about the ‘verse from the “outside”)

Edited articles

2022-11-21: https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/21/tumblr-to-add-support-for-activitypub-the-social-protocol-powering-mastodon-and-other-apps/

2022-11-16: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-get-started-use-mastodon/

2022-11-16: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/11/mastodon-private-and-secure-lets-take-look

2022-11-16: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/11/fediverse-could-be-awesome-if-we-dont-screw-it

2022-11-14: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018866914/is-mastodon-a-serious-twitter-alternative

2021-08-13: https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-the-fediverse-and-can-it-decentralize-the-web/

2018-09-18: https://newatlas.com/what-is-the-fediverse/56385/

2017-04-17: https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-mastodon-the-new-social-media-star-or-imploding-black-hole/

2017-01-06: https://web.archive.org/web/20170112165249/https://www.opendemocracy.net/open2017/jimmy-tidey/what-would-twitter-be-with-wikipedia-politics

Blogs

2022-11-07 (updated 11-10): https://avoidthehack.com/twitter-to-mastodon

Coverage of Mastodon exclusively (no significant mention of fediverse)

Edited articles

November, 2022

2022-11-21: https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2022/11/21/we-joined-mastodon-heres-what-we-learned-about-privacy-and-security

2022-11-19: https://themarkup.org/newsletter/hello-world/mastodons-moment

2022-11-18: opensource.com/article/22/11/verified-mastodon-website

2022-11-15: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalists-want-to-recreate-twitter-on-mastodon-mastodon-is-not-into-it.php

2022-11-15: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/15/how-to-use-mastodon-twitter-alternative.html

2022-11-14: https://techplugged.com/mastodon-tumblr-and-other-platforms-user-counts-skyrocket-following-twitter-exodus/

2022-11-08: https://gizmodo.com/mastodon-how-to-dm-send-messages-twitter-1849759852

2022-11-08 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/08/mastodon-what-is-it-how-do-i-join-use-find-best-server-list-change-elon-musk-twitter-leaving-social-network-alternative

2022-11-07: https://thespinoff.co.nz/internet/07-11-2022/why-is-everyone-leaving-twitter-for-mastodon

2022-11-05: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-find-twitter-friends-on-mastodon/

User guidance (writing about the ‘verse from the “inside”)

2022-11-21: https://medium.com/whither-news/on-joining-mastodon-d539eed5e41a

2022-11-19: https://fediverse.blog/~/ExploringTheFediverse/Thank%20you,%20Elon!

2022-11-09: https://ar.al/2022/11/09/is-the-fediverse-about-to-get-fryed-or-why-every-toot-is-also-a-potential-denial-of-service-attack/

2021-04-17: https://wordsmith.social/elilla/a-futuristic-mastodon-introduction-for-2021

2020-07-08: https://write.as/eloquence/why-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-are-doomed-to-fail

2018-09-15: https://web.archive.org/web/20180916010722/https://jeremydormitzer.com/blog/what-is-activitypub-and-how-will-it-change-the-internet/

2017-09-24: https://medium.com/we-distribute/a-quick-guide-to-the-free-network-c069309f334

2017-04-06: https://robekworld.com/what-is-gnu-social-and-is-mastodon-social-a-twitter-clone-1b12a98c37ec?gi=19c777149c48

2017-04-01: https://web.archive.org/web/20190617225539/https://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/blog/2017/04/01/a-brief-history-of-the-gnu-social-fediverse-and-the-federation

2016-03-31: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/the-licensing-and-compliance-lab-interviews-matt-lee-of-gnu-social

2014-01-29: https://web.archive.org/web/20150921175455/http://stevenrosenberg.net/blog/social/Fediverse/2014_0129_fediverse

Community Resources

https://www.fediverse.party/ https://www.fediverse.to/ https://joinfediverse.wiki/ https://fedi.video/

Server Statistics

https://fediverse.space/ https://fediverse.observer/ https://mastodonservers.net/

Find an Instance

https://instances.social/ https://mastodon.help/

Tips for noobs:

https://fedi.tips/ https://github.com/joyeusenoelle/GuideToMastodon/blob/main/README.md https://runyourown.social/

Find people to follow:

https://communitywiki.org/trunk https://fediverse.info/ https://fedi.directory/ https://github.com/nathanlesage/academics-on-mastodon

https://twitodon.com/ https://debirdify.pruvisto.org/ https://fedifinder.glitch.me/ https://listfollowers.com/

Crossposters

https://crossposter.masto.donte.com.br/ https://moa.party/

SF Masterworks - Man Plus & Non-Stop

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 10:43:09 +0800

Life has been busy for me this past month with COVID, and a funeral, so I decided to jump back into some classic sci-fi. I have almost all of the SF Masterworks series on my eReader and have found reading random novels on the list is a good way to discover something (possibly) great and new to me.

Man Plus by Frederik Pohl

This is about a world that is on the brink of destruction because of a war that might break out, so humans try to figure out a way to colonize Mars. (Yes, this is a novel from the period in sci-fi when everyone was obsessed about Mars.) Eventually, the USA starts an ambitious project to send a man to Mars without special equipment. They give him surgery and biological/technological augmentations to make his body more suited for the environment on Mars. It’s a bit silly at points and I really didn’t like the ending. This book was only OK. It really felt representative of a lot of 1970s sci-fi; non-existent or stereotypical roles for women and being really, really focused on Mars.

You could do worse than this, but you can also do much, much better. This is one of the weakest SF Masterworks books I’ve read in recent memory. Skip this one and read Non-Stop instead.

Rating: ★★

Non-Stop by Brian W. Aldiss

This SF Masterworks novel was much more exciting and exactly what I needed. It slowly unravels the details of this primitive society. For a bit you wonder if this is really sci-fi you are reading. As you learn more and more about this society, it starts to become obvious that they aren’t living on a planet. They find out there is a lot about their surroundings they don’t know about. There are mysterious ‘giants’, and confusing things to the people living in the tribes.

A group of people from this primitive tribe leave their homes to try to find out more about the world they are on. They’ve heard rumours, seen weird artifacts, and heard stories but want to find out for themselves what’s going on. They can feel that something is not quite right in their world. I won’t ruin anymore of the mystery of this book but it’s really well done. If you want to read this book, don’t read too reviews before reading. It’s an interesting sci-fi adventure in the same vein as M. Night Shyamalan’s movie, The Village, and you don’t want to ruin the mystery of this book by reading about it beforehand.

I really enjoyed this one! Sometimes when you discovery ‘old’ books, they are a breath of fresh air.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #83-84 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Against a Dark Background by Iain M Banks

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 11:40:46 +0800

I’m a rabid Culture fan but alas I have finished reading the whole series. I am now forced to dig into Mr. Banks' back catalogue to see if I can find some magical books I missed. Sadly, while this book wasn’t a bore, it wasn’t as incredible as The Culture series novels.

This novel’s main character is Lady Sharrow. She’s from an aristocratic family but she has a military background. She is on the hunt for ancient artifacts and in particular the last of the mythical Lazy Guns. There are 8 but only 1 that is undiscovered. The story progresses in a fairly linear manner with Lady Sharrow gathering supplies and old friends to help her. Along the way, we do learn about more of her back story . Oh yeah, there is a religious cult trying to kill her? Those unfamiliar with Banks' style may find the way he jumps from the present to the past jarring but old hands like me had no trouble following it.

So, what was wrong with the book? Nothing really. It is just not The Culture series. This story is much more straightforward than The Culture series which is a benefit and a flaw. In The Culture series, there is allusion to, and a larger story of factions and politicians vying for power. You don’t get a a good sense of the world this story inhabits.

Rating: ★★★

Book #82 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Chernobyl: The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe by Serhii Plokhy

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 11:34:16 +0800

Before reading this book had I heard of Chernobyl. I knew the word and knew that there was a major nuclear disaster there. Did I know anything else about this catastrophe? Nothing. After reading this, I feel I have been studying this disaster for months. This book is so well researched but written in a very clear and logical manner.

The book follows the disaster from the construction of the plant to the cleanup efforts. He introduces key players in the disaster and has even interviewed some of them. He also gives readers some back story into how the USSR was run, the political workings of the party, and why the USSR was even building nuclear reactors at that time. He gives a sober, pretty even view of the disaster. Thought the author is Ukrainian, I feel he didn’t report about Chernobyl in a biased manner.

When it got into the later chapters of the book where he did tie the Chernobyl history into the movement freedom, some may argue some of his bias might’ve come out. It was interesting how the ecological movement was the start of and later merged into an independence movement. I believe that this is a vulnerability of the current CCP regime in China. It’s difficult to argue the environment is not important to people or stop people from wishing for, or even agitating for their government to ‘care’ about the environment.

Once I had finished the book I wanted to see real pictures of Chernobyl so I hit the internet, more specifically YouTube. I was amazed at the footage you can find. You can find footage from the time in Pryiat, the town setup to house workers right beside the powerplant. You can find footage of the firefighters running out on the roof of Chernobyl and using shovels to throw radioactive debris off the roof. You can find later footage of the ‘elephant’s foot’, the radioactive sludge that is slowly melting its way deeper and deeper into the ground beneath Chernobyl. I even found a detailed video of the 2015 construction of a new cover for Chernobyl built by a French company. I am also going to watch the HBO mini-series Chernobyl. It looks really well done.

While watching the footage of Chernobyl and after reading the book, it shocked me that it seemed the world knew very little about how to deal with nuclear disasters and cleanups before Chernobyl. This disaster was a wakeup call to the world and every country that runs nuclear power plants about the danger and possiblity of a major ecological catastrophe if a reactor melts down. In the same way that Hiroshima taught the world about the power and devasation that nuclear weapons could wreak upon a city, Chernobyl taught us that the invisible killer of nuclear fallout is a silent killer.

I recommend this book for almost anyone interested in history and especially those interesting in doing a deep-dive into a world event that is almost as important as WW2 and certainly more important 9/11.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #81 in my 202X Reading Challenge

$ git sync murder by Michael Warren Lucas

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 11:29:49 +0800

This is the sequel to git commit murder. It follows Dale Whitehead to yet another conference. Once again he finds himself in the middle of multiple murders. It sounds derivative and it sort of is. If you’re looking for more of the same though, it is great.

I feel I don’t need to say much more. If you want to know more, you should probably read my review of the first book in this series, $git commit murder.

I bought this from Michael Warren Lucas' own bookstore: Tilted Windmill Press. It’s great if you can support authors and artists when you can. His epubs are very reasonably priced at $4.99 USD. So, did I get a cup of coffee’s worth of enjoyment out of this ? Definitely!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #80 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder

Sat, 05 Nov 2022 08:05:23 +0800

I sometimes put off writing a review for a long time; sometimes due to time constraints but often because the subject matter is so intense or complicated that it’s hard to organize my thoughts and feelings. This was the latter.

This book is about the death and destruction that Hitler and Stalin both reaped across Eastern Europe to make their twisted visions become reality. Hitler was trying to get more land for his pure Aryan nation, while Stalin was trying to collectivize and control the farm land. Between them they killed 14,000,000 people. That is an astounding number.

This book does a good job of showing what an evil monster Josef Stalin was. For most people, his reputation from WW2 is either a ‘good guy’ because he helped fight the Nazis or he was the victim of Nazis, re: Stalingrad. Stalin was really adept at playing both sides and adjusting his strategy at different times. For some reason, we all forget that when the Nazis ‘started’ WW2 by taking over Poland, they actually took over only half of it. The U.S.S.R. came from the East and took half of Poland, up to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Line which was secretly negotiated beforehand.

This book is really well researched. The writer does a good job in putting context to all these deaths. Why did they kill certain people at what time? Why was the important?

I’ve read a lot of WW2 books. I’ve never read a WW2 book that talked about any of this. The non-combatants in the East paid a huge price before, during, and after WW2 simply for living between two aggressive, murderous superpowers.

I have a lot of feelings about this book. At times when I was reading it, the deaths washed over me and it was hard to process the scale of murder he is talking about, but I feel this book gives me some context for understanding the current Ukrainian-Russian conflict. It helps me understand the generational memory and history that people living in that region must have. It makes me think, maybe this is why Poland is so welcoming of refugees from Ukraine because they remember the terror of living through Nazi and then U.S.S.R. occupation.

I will stop this review there, but if you think you’re a WW2 buff but haven’t read this book, please do. This adds another layer of understanding to the war and the suffering of the people to the East of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Line.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #79 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

$ git commit murder by Michael Warren Lucas

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 20:35:53 +0800

If Agatha Christie ran Unix conventions.

A great whodunit mystery set amidst the backdrop of a BSD conference. The ‘detective’ is a rotund geek who has anxiety issues. He doesn’t want to solve the mystery but as any good programmer, he needs to know who did it. He needs to solve the puzzle.

Also, I think the title is pure gold. I have already bought the sequel. Guess what it’s called? $ git sync murder!

This is a fun, light read. This author has a great sense of humour. He had me guessing about who the murderer was right until the end, though there was a bit of a hint in the beginning. See if you can spot it when you read this.

Computer geeks care about code.

But do they care enough… to kill?

If you want a lighthearted, funny, geeky read. This is for you. It’s way less erotic than Savaged By Systemd, I promise!

Also, if you can, try to support authors you can by buying their ebooks. You can buy this book from Tilted Windmill Press.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #78 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Confronting the Classics: Traditions, Adventures and Innovations by Mary Beard

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 20:21:14 +0800

This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. This is Mary Beard sharing book reviews of books about classical topics. Even though some were interesting, witty, and well-written, it didn’t hold up as a ‘good book’ to me. It saddens me to say that this was the first Mary Beard book I didn’t really enjoy.

It feels like she was contractually obligated to write a book, and just took these book reviews she had lying around and made it into a book. I also didn’t appreciate how a few of them were about interesting topics, but after the book review was over - the topic was finished. I think Mary Beard excels when she writes a book about a single topic, and writes deeply about it.

Two examples of books like that are that vein include: her book about Pompeii, and The Parthenon.

Rating: ★★

Book #77 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Squad by Maggie Tokuda Hall

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 16:22:03 +0800

I bought this for my class library because it looked cool. I open the first page and of the first words is ‘fuck’. Damn! Well, no kids or parent’s have complained yet.

This is a unique book about a girl trying to fit in with the cool crowd in her new high school. Little does she know, the people she’s trying to fit in with are werewolves?!? What!

The squad is a tight-knit group of girls who are werewolves. They feed once every full moon on men. They try to pick lecherous high school boys who try to take advantage of them after they tempt them to take the bait.

A mistake happens by a member of the group and they turn on each other. Why aren’t the girls following the rules? There is turmoil that threatens the whole squad.

Honestly, this is a fun, unexpected read for me!

NOTE: Strong language, and lots of blood.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #76 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Space Boy: Volume 1 by Stephen McCranie

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 16:01:40 +0800

A too short look at a girl who travels from way out in space at a mining colony, back to Earth. She lost her friends, her worl world, and is very confused. The graphics are cute. The story is neat. There are 3 parts to this story, but it is honestly so short, they should’ve put all 3 books into one.

The setup to this story: a young girl lives on a mining colony with her father, he loses his job, and is sent back to Earth foth for retraining. The problem? To travel back to Earth is a 30 year journey in cryogenic sleep. When she arrives at Earth, all the people she’s known are all 30 years older, including her best friend who still lives in the mining colony.

Yes, this is another instance of me raiding my Grade 6 classroom library. Now I must wait for a student to bring back part the 2nd book in the series, so I can continue the story.

Is this book reading? It’s hard to say because the first book just starts setting up the story. I’ll have to reserve my judgement until I’ve read all three books. Actually, I am looking at Goodreads and it seems there are 13 volumes of this comic thus far. Wow.

Rating: ★★★

Book #75 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 15:47:30 +0800

Dancing at the Pity Party of the author’s way of dealing with the grief of losing their mom. This was a laugh out loud graphic novel about the grimmest of subjects, death. I was nodding along to the jokes, and laughing at the author’s witty humour. This book celebrated the author’s mom’s life, explained how she died of cancer, and how the author dealt with it all.

I felt a really strong connection to this book. My father died when I was twelve. People are weird when they are tying to console you. Or as the author writes it’s awkward consoling people about your dead mother. I remember the kind, meaningless words from strangers you rarely see. I remember the gifts of casseroles stacking up in the fridge from friends and family. I remember all the crying, too. People sure do like to cry when people die.

Seriously though, I wish I had this book in my hands when my father just died. This book would’ve helped me feel less alone in my grief and less angry at all those people with living mom’s and dads. Jerks.

If you have a lost a mother or father when you were a young lad or lass, I would recommend this book to you. If you are too serious (and boring) to laugh at death, don’t pick this up.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #74 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 21:57:53 +0800

What possible bearing could the story of something as cheap and insignificant as the nutmeg have on the twenty-first century?

This is not a history book. This is not a history book about nutmeg. That is a trojan horse. This book is really about colonialism and the example of the islands with nutmeg being subjugated, taken over, and colonized by European powers. It relates all this to the current politics, and the climate crisis.

I wish it actually was more about the Banda islands and the nutmeg story, but this is more like a university textbook about colonialism. Was this a bad thing? Yes, and no. I learned a lot about the Banda islands, and the nutmeg trade but there are long, long sections about colonization. There are long political sections. I learned a lot about colonization, too.

Lord Chancellor of England, Sir Francis Bacon: “…there are nations that are outlawed and proscribed by the law of nature and nations, or by the immediate commandment of God.” These wayward countries, Bacon argues, are not nations at all, but rather “routs and shoals of people, as have utterly degenerated from the laws of nature.” Such being the case, it was both lawful and godly for any nation “that is civil and policed…[to] cut them off from the face of the earth”

Emer de Vattel,: “nations are justified,” he ruled, “in uniting together as a body with the object of punishing, and even exterminating, such savage peoples.” This argument effectively conferred on Christian Europeans a God-given right to attack or extinguish peoples who appeared errant or monstrous in their eyes"

He has some interesting views of world history that are not shared by others. He has a great way of putting together a narrative of Western settler-colonialism.

As Ben Ehrenreich observes: “Only once we imagined the world as dead could we dedicate ourselves to making it so.”

This is very true. Modernism makes fun of aboriginal tribes that revere the land and maybe even take care of the nature ‘spirits’.

Girolamo Benzioni, the Italian-born conquistador whose *History of the New World8 was published in 1565, described Indigenous perceptions of Europeans with these words: “They say that we have come to this earth to destroy the world. They say … that we devour everything, we consume the earth, we redirect the rivers, we are never quiet, never at rest, but always run here and there, seeking gold and silver, never satisfied, and then we gamble with it, make war, kill each other, rob, swear, never say the truth, and have deprived them of their means of livelihood.”

Never have I read such a succinct summary of settler-colonialism and what it did to Indigenous peoples. Gosh talks about terraforming of the environment as a form of war. The settlers changed the land, and that pushed out all others that didn’t live like ‘Europeans’.

The seventeenth-century Puritan leader John Winthrop, for instance, argued that Indians had no rights of ownership in the land “for they inclose no ground, neither have they cattle to maintain it, but remove their dwellings as they have occasion.” It was by planting, and creating “plantations,” that the settlers claimed the land. The right to terraform was thus an essential part of settler identity; their claim of ownership was founded on the notion that they were “improving” the land by making it productive in ways that were recognizable as such by Europeans.

The Native Americans saw what the Europeans were doing to the land and could see it was bad even as far back as 1855.

In 1855 the Duwamish chief Seattle, after whom the city is named, wrote a letter to President Franklin Pierce in which he said: “Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning of survival?”

As I sit here reading this in 2022 and it seems all these predictions have come to pass. Then the author turns his focus to oil and the importance of it to modern Superpowers.

… over the course of the twentieth century access to oil became the central focus of global geopolitical strategy: for a Great Power, to be able to ensure or hinder the flow of oil was to have a thumb on the jugulars of its adversaries. He then goes over how Britain was a superpower with their control of the sea, thus controlling the flow of oil. Now, it is the United States that controls this resource with bases all over the world.

Priya Satia: “Violence committed abroad, in service of imperial expansion, was central to the making of capitalist modernity.”

… a country’s ability to project military force is directly connected to the size of its carbon footprint — and this has been true since the early nineteenth century.

It seems he’s lost sight of the nutmeg. Though, nutmeg as an important commodity, worth scouring the earth for, and starting wars over, is exactly as important as oil is today.

The stats he gives for the oil that aircraft carriers burn every hour is incredible…

As you can see, there is arguably very little about nutmeg in here. Mr. Ghosh would be an incredible person to chat about politics and history with over a few beers, though. Reading this book was difficult. There was lots of interesting things in here but it was a lot to process. It had a huge scope. I wasn’t expecting this when I picked it up.

I have been putting off writing this review for weeks because I have so many feelings about this book. This book is not for the faint of heart. It uses high level academic language. This is not a light read. You have been warned.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #73 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 21:54:03 +0800

A super cute graphic novel! Two twin witches miss the bus to go to magic school, so they play ‘hooky’! They get over to uncles house, who is also a magician. The kingdom they live in doesn’t much like witches. There is a bunch of witches trying to overthrow the king. The twins get caught up in this. Along the way, the princess of the kingdom gets thrown into the mix. There are hormones at play and it is oh so cute.

This is an adorable graphic novel that teens would love. It explores themes of friendship, and fighting for what is right. The illustrations are too kawaii. The dialogue is a bit clunky in places but it doesn’t distract from the story. This is the first in the series. There are no cliffhangers to this graphic novel, but I’m still curious to see how the young love of some of these characters blossoms.

I needed to read this to take a break from the super depressing book I’m currently reading, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder. If you need a break from the book you’re reading, or just from the year 2022, pick this up!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #72 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

My Fedora Silverblue Experience

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 21:46:17 +0800

You might have heard about this distribution and wondered what it is all about.

It is a new type of distro. They call it an ‘immutable’ distro.

In Fedora’s own words:

Fedora Silverblue is an immutable desktop operating system. Aiming at good support for container-focused workflows, this variant of Fedora Workstation targets developer communities.

Immutable? Huh?

Again the word immutable. What does that mean? This means that the core system is not editable by the user. You can’t jump into /etc and edit files. You can’t throw a file in /bin and run it.

This is done for stability. You don’t want to have a non-bootable OS because of a change you made. Right?

When you upgrade the operating system, you are actually getting a new ‘clean’ image of Fedora. If it reboots and can’t boot up into the new ‘upgrade’, it will revert to the previous snapshot.

If you’re running Fedora Silverblue there is no dnf. You upgrade like this: rpm-ostree upgrade

rpm-ostree status Shows you the snapshots you have on your system.

What about installing my apps?

You are meant to download all your apps in the Flatpak format. Flatpaks are good because they don’t touch the core of your system and would never get you in a situation like dependency hell, or make your system unbootable. Some people hate them (so did I) but these are much better than AppImages and snaps in my opinion.

What about the apps that don’t have a Flatpak? Or you just want to mess around with some programs.

Toolbox. Your playground.

Toolbox is a container system that works with podman. You can make a Fedora 36 container like this: toolbox enter (makes a Fedora 36 container by default)

Then you’re in a toolbox. It is like regular Fedora here. If you see a purple hexagon before your username in terminal, you are in the toolbox.

In the toolbox, you have dnf. You can mess around with any files you want here. The great part though, is it is all in a container. Nothing you install here will mess up your main system.

A great thing about these containers is that you can interact with your files in /home directory. You could install a program for a few minutes, try it out, then delete the whole container.

You can also run other types of containers like say Ubuntu 16. This is why Fedora says it is for ‘developers’.

Here’s an example of how you might use Toolbox. To publish this website, I use hugo. To use hugo on Silverblue these are the steps you would take:

toolbox enter
sudo dnf install hugo
hugo

When I’m done, I can ‘shutdown’ the container if I wish (I am on a laptop from 2015 with only 4 GB RAM , so I always shutdown the toolbox when I’m done.)

podman stop fedora-toolbox-36 #or whatever your container was called

Should you use Fedora 36?

It is still a new distribution but I think it has great promise. Fedora is kinda like Android and iOS. It’s very hard to get those operating systems in an unbootable state. This could be a great distribution to setup for your family member who has never used Linux before. This might be the distro for you to have a boring ol' web browsing, and fooling around computer. You give up some ‘power’ and ‘customizability’ to gain more stability.

Yes - developers, less technical users, users who get all apps from flatpaks No - developers, tinkerers, people who don’t like new things

My Experience with Silverblue

I installed Silverblue on two machines:

2015 HP convertable, 4 GB RAM
2011 Acer all-in-one , 6 GB RAM

The experience has been flawless. I layered only two packages, nextcloud-client, and nextcloud-client-nautilus. Everything just works. I had a few issues with Nextcloud on my Acer computer. I fixed it by installing AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support. I install all my apps with Flatpak: LibreOffice, GIMP, Kdenlive, etc.

Will I continue using Fedora Silverblue? Yes, I think so. I will keep on regular Fedora 36 system around but these basic systems I only use for light tasks will stay with Silverblue. I have a lot more confidence when I install new programs. I can test things out in toolbox. If I really must layer an app in there, I will.

A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 22:02:04 +0800

A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke

This was a lovely, linear moon story. Early sci-fi was as preoccupied with the moon as we currently are with Mars it seems

In the future, there are moon tours. One of these moon tours is a ‘boat’ ride over the Sea of Thirst. It is an ocean of some sort of moon dust that is neither liquid nor solid. All is well with these journeys until one day there is an accident that finds the moon boat stuck at the bottom of the dust sea. This is a story of the survivors in the boat, the people trying to save them, the reporters reporting on the accident, and other moon base administrators dealing with the situation.

It plays out in a sort of predictable fashion and nothing is ever as easy as it seems. They are just about to be saved, and inevitably, there is another setback. This is sci-fi from a simpler time. It wasn’t all that exciting to a modern reader of sci-fi but it’s great to read classic sci-fi. You get to see the ideas that writers were toying around with back then, and how they laid the groundwork for the fiction we now have.

The captain of the moon boat that was trapped under the Sea of Thirst:

“He loved the Moon, but it had tried to kill him: never again could he be wholly at ease out upon its open surface. Though deep space was still more hostile and unforgiving, as yet it had not declared war upon him. With his own world, from now on, there could never be more than an armed neutrality.”

Rating: ★★★★

Book #71 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Centauri Device by M John Harrison

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 21:49:10 +0800

What did I just read? This had flashes of brilliance but I felt like I was on an acid trip while reading it. There are moments when you can feel the great novel clawing through but it is all over the place. It is a dark, bleak novel. There is some hidden meaning behind it all, I can feel it trying to come out at times, but it’s hard to grasp. It feels like the start of an amazing novel but has too many competing themes, and characters.

After five years, he had ended up on Earth, where everybody ends, guarding heavy plant machinery for the Israeli World Government, where he was paid handsomely for every Arab he shot, but not enough – not enough for dirty work.

The author imagines a dark future.

Angina Seng had finally convinced him that when the landed gentry cuts up a seedcake for tea it makes no difference to the cake which of them holds the knife; whoever ‘won’ Earth’s war, it would be the same old crew who stepped up afterwards to hold out their plates.

I read some other reviews of this book and it feels like since this book was published in 1975, the writer was influenced by the cold war a lot.

The ruled never suspected what is being done to them in their own name; how would they dare?

… the Earth-human has no use for thinking except in the service of acquisition. He stands at every gate with one hand held out and the other behind his back, inventing reasons why he should be let in. From that first bunch of bananas, his every sluggish fit or dull fleabite of mental activity has prompted more, more; and his time has been spent for thousands of years in the construction of systems of ideas that will enable him to excuse, rationalize, and moralize the grasping hand.

This is an example of a part where the the writer delves into philosophy.

“…all of us down here are survivors of some personal atrocity, even if it’s only birth. We breathe the dust of tragedy, and you offer us politics”

“Colonel — both of you — we’re sick of ideology. It doesn’t seem to work for us, only for you. You watch us crawl round the world — because there’s nothing else for us to do — and see in us the reflection of a dream that was never worth the words you use to describe it…”

You will probably love or hate this novel if you read it. I don’t hate it but I was expecting more from a novel included in the SF Masterworks series.

Oh and if you’re still interested in reading it, here is the back cover ‘plot’ information:

John Truck was to outward appearances just another lowlife spaceship captain. He peddled drugs when they were available, carried cargo when they weren’t. But he was also the last of the Centaurans - or at least, half of him was - which meant that he was the only person who could operate the Centauri Device, a sentient bomb which might hold the key to settling a vicious space war.

Rating: ★★★

Book #70 in my 202X Reading Challenge

Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 21:09:30 +0800

The book starts by following the life of a common man, Quangel. A master carpenter. Married with children. Then one day he gets a letter in the mail.

…she rips the letter into scraps and shreds and fragments and she shouts into his face: “What do you even want to read that filth for, those common lies they always write? That he died a hero’s death for Fuhrer and Fatherland? That he was an examplary soldier and comrade?

This changes everything. Something changes in this man. It changes in his wife, too. Once there were ‘not political’ and just trying to live a quiet life but now, what do they have to live for? Their son is dead.

big or small, no one could risk more than his life. Each according to his strength and abilities, but the main thing was, you fought back

Quangel, starts to turn against Nazism, but what can he do? He eventually starts writing incendiary postcards denouncing the Fuhrer and Nazism. He drops them in buildings for people to pick them up. He is eventually caught by a gestapo inspector who tells Quangel he had no chance. He is “a gnat against an elephant”. The inspector doesn’t understand why he even resists.

“No, and you will never understand it, either. It doesn’t matter if one man fights or ten thousand; if the one man sees he has no option but to fight, then he will fight, whether he has others on his side or not. I had to fight, and given the chance I would do it again. Only I would do it very differently.”

Quangel is sent to prison. Eventually, he has a sham trial and is sentenced to death. He is shuffled between different cellmates. One of his cellmates is a doctor.

“But in life you need to be tough sometimes, Doctor!”

“No, you don’t. And a saying like that is justification for every form of brutality, Quangel!”

Quangel does not regret his actions at all and is stalwart to the end. Living a ‘just’ life, and doing the right thing is worth it.

Doctor: “…Nothing in this world is done in vain, and since we are fighting for justice against brutality, we are bound to prevail in the end.”

Quangel: “And what good will that do us, down in our graves?”

“Quangel, I ask you! Would you rather live for an unjust cause than die for a just one? There is no choice - not for you, nor for me either. It’s because we are as we are that we have to go this way.”

This was a simple book. It isn’t written in fancy prose. It is to the point and cuts to the point. It shows that everbody has choice. They can never take that away from you even if they take away your life. They can’t cut down your decency.

At the end of the book there is short biography of Hans Fallada, a pen name, and his inspiration for this book. He was inspired by the true story of Otto and Elise Hampel. These people were working class heroes who did their part in distributing 287 hand-written postcards denouncing Hitler, and encouraging people to refuse military service. It took them a few years to get caught. It’s quite an incredible true story! The book really does justice to this amazing story. I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered this novel.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #69 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

A Taipei Mutt by Eric Mader-Lin

Sun, 18 Sep 2022 20:21:43 +0800

SPOILER ALERT, STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING.

Imagine you’re in a bar with your friend and you’re both drunk. Your friend starts telling you about this great book he’s thinking of writing.

Friend: Yeah, so it’ll be about an English teacher that gets turned into a dog.

You: Ok, sounds interesting.

Friend: Yeah, the woman who seduces him and turned him into a dog has hundreds of other men she’s done this, too. And the dogs speak different languages.

You: Hmm, that’s a bit weird.

Friend: It get’s better. The dog will wander Taipei and try to have sex with an underage girl to change back to a man.

You: This is sounding a bit inappropriate.

Friend: Finally, he’ll trick a widow into having sex with him and he’ll go to prison.

You: Whoa. What a crazy novel you have planned.

You’d probably write this friend off as another one of those guys who says they’re going to write a novel but never do. Here’s the twist though, he actually followed through and wrote this damn book. Incredible!

This was a weird book with a bit of rape, bestiality, and lots of animals talking. It was a neat little book to read because I live in Taiwan and am familiar with the setting. This will not interest most people. If I didn’t live in Taiwan, I doubt I’d give this book a second look. If you’re down to try something way out there, give this one a shot. It will probably be very hard to find because it is so ‘local’. I found my copy in a used bookstore in Taipei.

Rating: ★★★

Book #68 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 21:13:06 +0800

A magical world with female witches and male shape shifters. A wonderful story about a boy who doesn’t fit into the typical male role. He wants to learn the magic spells with the other witches but that isn’t allowed for boys. He gets teased by the other boys. He feels like a misfit. He meets a girl outside of his magical family and makes a new friend. There is trouble back at his house and he uses his forbidden witch skills to save the day.

A heartwarming story that will appeal the teens. I like how this book shows you that even though society might say something wrong, you shouldn’t listen to them. Arbitrary categories like “boy jobs” or “girl jobs” are just outdated traditions. You can do anything you are passionate about!

This is another book I grabbed from my Grade 6 reading library. I love graphic novels but they are a bit expensive; borrowing them is much better than buying them.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #67 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novel Series

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 20:55:46 +0800

One of the benefits of being a teacher is getting to select, and purchase books on behalf of my class. This year, we decided to buy some cool graphic novels for our students. Of course, this means that I got to read them, too!

One of the series I chose for my Grade 6 class was The Babysiters Club graphic novels. They are based on the novels by Ann M. Martin but are illustrated by Raina Telgemeier. I know her from the excellent Smile graphic novels. I actually never read the Ann Martin novels when I was growing up eventhough they are from my generation. I did recently watch the Baby-Sitters Club TV series on NETFLIX though. It is really well done and I enjoyed watching it with my family.

Kristy’s Great Idea

(Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #1)

The Truth About Stacey

(Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #2)

Mary Anne Saves The Day

(Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #3)

I won’t comment on each novel individually. They are great! They must follow the novels very closely because the NETFLIX series followed almost exactly the same plot points as the graphic novels. I think it might’ve take away some of the excitement of reading the graphic novels so soon after watching the TV series, since they were so similiar. I still enjoyed reading them and read parts of them to my elementary school-aged daughter.

I like how the author makes each girl unique. You have the tomboy, the artistic type, the fashion girl, and the nerdy girl. These books were written ages ago but the problems teenage girls are timeless, so they still hold up.

If you have a younger daughter or niece in your family, you can’t go wrong with these as a gift. The girls are all cool. They are all courageous. They are great role models for growing girls.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #64, 65, 66 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 20:51:55 +0800

This is an excellent book to learn a bit more how the Chinese communist party controls China. It was a bit eerie reading this book, which was published in 2010, when they were talking about Xi Jingping before he was Chairman (aka president). As such, the book is a bit dated but lays a good groundwork to help people understand a bit more about the structure of command/control and the politics that happen behind closed doors.

Every chapter is broken down into big themes such as how the party deals with its history (Tombstone: The Party and History), the party’s relationship with the military (Why We Fight: The Party and the Gun), and the CCP and its relationship to capitalism (Deng Perfects Socialism: The Party and Capitalism). These themes make it sound drier than the book actually is. For me this is a popular history book that could be read on the beach. The author puts together an interesting narrative of interesting times in the history of the CCP and offers his insight as to the importance of these events.

This book is very well known and as such a bit overrated. As a person who has read many books about the politics and history of Taiwan and China, I sort of knew most of what was in the book. I think this book would be most useful for people who don’t have a great background in Chinese and Taiwanese history. It’s also a nice easy read with some amusing anecdotes about the CCP for veterans such as myself.

Quotes

The Chinese Communist Party’s enduring grip on power is based on a simple formula straight out of the Leninist Playbook. … control of personnel, propaganda, and the People’s Liberation Army.

The CCP looks flashy but is still a Leninist party at its core. There is only so much control it can give up without worrying about losing control of the whole country.

“The party is like God. He is everywhere. You just can’t see him.”

University Professor in Beijing

If you play by the Party’s rules, which means eschewing competitive politics, then you and your family can get on with your lives and maybe get rich.

This is falling apart right now. The CCP has difficult times ahead. Right now, there is a housing crisis with people withholding mortgage payments for houses that haven’t been completed yet. As housing is 29% of China’s GDP, any slowdown in housing sales will be felt in its economy.

On PLA culture:

“It is difficult to have an NCO system in a culture which does not like to delegate authority. In China, where so much is vested in face, you maintain your authority not just by being in charge but by appearing to be in charge.”

Nailed it! This is true in other offices in China and Taiwan as well. Management in Asia is filled with managers that are good actors. They look like they are working hard while everybody below them struggles to actually get the work done without making their boss lose face.

“The Party has always seen Taiwan as the final part of the jigsaw puzzle,” said Andrew Yang, in Taipei. “There is no way to persuade them to let Taiwan go.”

Sadly, they still are using Taiwan as a way to stir up nationalism in China to keep their citizens from looking too closely at the guilded cage the CCP has constructed for them.

The Chinese saying, “The mountains are high, and the Emperor is far away”, is often quoted to describe how local officials become more independent the further they are from Beijing.

Love these sort of 成語 chéngyǔ. Chengyu are 4 character idiomatic expressions of well-known stories. For a Western person, these would be expressions like “crossing the Rubicon” or “reaping what you sow”.

In 2003, the Chinese government tried to conceal the impact of a deadly virus, known as SARS, which had incubated in southern China, before spreading to large cities like Hong Kong and Beijing. It wasn’t until a Beijing military surgeon, who was also a senior party member, faxed the foreign media the correct numbers of people struck down by the virus in Beijing that Hu Jintao’s government owned up to the scale of the problem and took drastic measures to quarantine it.

Replace SARS with COVID19 and Hu Jintao with Xi Jingping and basically the same thing happened in 2019 with COVID19. Remember, China is not trustworthy. Everything they say is a lie and this has been proven time and time again.

…authorities were burnt badly by the SARS crisis in 2003, when government secrecy was responsible for the spread of the virus in the region. They started working on a new system of managing public opinion, taking the Blair government’s handling of popular opinion during the mad-cow disease crisis in 2000-2001 as a model.

Seems they still haven’t learned. 2022 now and the government still trying to appear strong and trying to look like they are in control with their disastrous ‘Dynamic Zero COVID’ strategy.

“…a nation that dares not face up to history will have no future. The Party has to put down its burdens in order to march forward”.

I hope they march right off a cliff but this is very true. China is still nursing a victims cross form the opium wars. It has serious self-esteem issues.

Is this a review of this book or ranting about China? Well, it’s hard to separate the two because I live in Taiwan which is under constant threat of invasion from China.

“What is there new to say about Mao?” said a prominent US Sinologist when I prodded him on the issue. But that is precisely the point. The victims of Mao’s political campaigns put him firmly among the big three slaughterers of the twentieth century, along with Stalin and Hitler. By drawing a veil over Mao, the Party has effectively shut down all political debate. “The Mao issue is the dark heart of everything that is contemporary China,” said Geremie Barme(accent up), of the Australian National University. “The whole project [of modern China] is based on a series of lies, not just about Mao, but the collective leadership he has come to represent. It has profound ramifications - it means that China can’t grow up. It is a society that has forbidden itself from being able to grapple not only with the legacy of Mao, but with civil change.”

China is all built up on the lie of Mao as a ‘great leader’. If that falls, the whole myth of China dies.

An official once told me: “People need to fear the government in China, otherwise the country will fall apart.” The way the state targets even lawyers like Li and his clients is evidence that behind the Party’s boisterous, boasting exterior lies a regime with a profound appreciation of its limited legitimacy and fragile mandate.

A book that is an easy read and a good foundational text for those with zero knowledge of the modern Chinese state.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #63 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 19:54:10 +0800

A Kafkaesque tale set in a communist country about a down and out failed author who stumbles into a paid gig writing obituaries for people who haven’t died…yet. He gets information packets about people and writes incredible obituaries for them. He starts to notice a pattern with the assignments he gets. He notices it’s all certain types of people and they are linked up. He pays it no mind and just keeps collecting his money. As he has this assignment longer things get weirder and his pet penguin feels more and more depressed. The failed author starts thinking about an exit plan for his penguin as his work seems to get more dangerous. In the end, he has to decide between saving himself or the penguin.

I really enjoy Soviet translated literature. I have never lived under communism but reading literature from someone who did gives me a sense of the mood and atmosphere of it. You can feel the tension of not knowing when things are safe or when the wind will shift in government and there is a new Enemy. You feel how people are struggling to survive but also have a good time by enjoying good food when they can get it.

The whole book seems like a metaphor. The author blindly accepts this job although he knows he is a part of something unseemly. He needs money to eat and feed his penguin. Eventually, the system comes after him. It’s also a comment on how all these systems in communist countries don’t work without the people running in the treadmill to keep it going. Although, if this failed author didn’t take up this job, wouldn’t the state just find another person to do it? A theme for this book, the good times never last; once your usefulness has waned, you will be spit out and replaced. A dark but humourous look at a man and a penguin just trying to make it.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #62 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Graveyard by Marek Hłasko

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 18:58:05 +0800

“Yes,” he said in a low voice, “I did something terrible, I know it’s terrible, and I don’t myself understand how it could have happened. But can one moment, in which a man is not accountable for his thoughts and words, wipe out his whole life and everything he has done? Is there really such a crime?”

A novel about a true patriot living in Communist Poland who has one drink too many one night and says something disparaging about the government. This one transgression starts a chain of events that ruins his life and his family’s life. After his fall he tries to get his life back by visiting his squad members of his partisan fighting group. Each of them have changed a lot since the war and won’t vouch for his character to the local Party.

“…Where is the dividing line between loyalty and slavery, between crime and necessity? It was always reason that drew that line, reason and conscience…now man has become only a miserable plaything of politics. We try to forget reason if we know what’s good for us…”

I have really dug into Hłasko’s novels recently. There is a refreshing honesty and simplicity to his work. Simplicity in getting to the point with great dialogue without a lot of other fluff. This novel was rejected by publication in Poland when this was written. They rejected it because “This Poland doesn’t exist.” That sort of tells you the type of place Poland was after WW2. Hłasko published it elsewhere in 1958 and drifted between a few different countries before his eventual suicide. You know that cliche you hear about having to have lived through a lot of pain to create great art? I think Hłasko fits the bill.

You see the change in the main character of this book from being a proud Party member who was even in the partisan resistance during the war to a ‘criminal’ who is totally disillusioned with the government. The ending is just great and a real slap in the face. This is political literature wrapped by an angry young man. Hłasko was a brilliant writer and it’s a shame that some of the best exit this world too quickly.

Quotes I Liked

“Courage is probably just a matter of faith. People are nothing but a herd of swine wallowing in a sea of shit…”

History has no use for witnesses. The next generation will rush headlong into whatever is expected of it. It will regard each of the crimes now being committed as sacred, as necessary.

Though he is writing about Soviet communism, it isn’t hard to relate this to Chinese style communism. It just shows you that the wheel goes around and around, and Man keeps repeating his mistakes.

He held out his hand; and both pretended not to notice that their hands avoided each other

This comes up multiple times in the book. I wonder what the significance of it is? Is he saying that the men are ghosts and can’t shake hands? Are all the words coming out of their mouth’s lies and to shake hands would be sacrilege? Maybe the squad members don’t want to be tainted by their, now tainted, former comrade. I don’t know the answer and that’s ok.

“You can go and you can give up the idea of going anywhere else, no matter where. You won’t hear anything different. But you can try to fool yourself. You may succeed. That’s what everyone else is doing.”

For these Communist forms of government to work the populace has to believe in it and avoid thinking too hard about the paradoxes of the whole system.

“No man can endure knowledge. He’s got no right to ask for it. It’s mythology, not knowledge, that holds societies together.”

Despite all his anger, Hlasko really understood how society works. All nation states have a mythology to keep them together. If people lose faith in it, the nation crumbles.

“Maybe you don’t like it? Now tell the truth, do you like it or don’t you?” Another retort that is said many times in this novel by the policemen to people who seem to be doubting how great the State is or seem about ready to point out something ridiculous about the System. It is a taunt and a provocation. The people know they have to swallow their words or they will have the violence of the state upon them. I love the ending of the book how Hlasko brings it full circle and we see how a regular man is brought down low by the State and accepts his fate.

“…Every tyranny ends more or less like a woman’s beauty: the more magnificent the facade, the more rotten the core; the prettier the dress, the filthier the body; the more talk about strength and loyalty, the more terrorism and the weak the rulers. Whores and tyrants end the same way - can’t you understand even the simplest things?…”

Oh how this is so true. Think of the propaganda spewing out of Russia and China about their strength and very tough militaries. I wonder what we will find when we look under China’s dress? We have already seen the rot under Russia’s skirt through this war in the Ukraine. China must be even more rotten than Russia.

An timeless read that makes you think about the systems of control put in place in government and what happens when a person steps outside the boundaries of what is ‘acceptable’.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #61 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

SSH Mastery: OpenSSH, PuTTY, Tunnels and Keys by Michael Warren Lucas

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:53:46 +0800

Incredibly funny and important book for anybody who has ever touched a terminal. If you’ve used the terminal, you’ve most likely used SSH. It is a key sysadmin tool to work on remove systems and servers. We all may know how to do the basics with SSH but the author breaks down every part of using SSH from seting up match lists, using X11 forwarding, and even how to setup a VPN over SSH.

For those of you not using GNU/Linux or BSD, he even uses examples with Putty, the defacto standard SSH program for Microsoft Windows.

A few chapters flew over my head but I will surely revisit this book again to try to make my systems more secure with match lists in sshd_config. This is an essential reference book for intermediate to expert computer user. I feel my understading of the protocol is way better after reading this book. The author also has a great sense of humour with the funny system names he uses and how he explains things.

To buy this or other [sexy books]({{ ref “/p/savaged-by-systemd-by-michael-warren-lucas/” }}) by the author, check out his website, Tilted Windmill Press.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #59 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Demons by Kang Hwagil

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:40:20 +0800

A spooky story set in a rural area. A teacher moves from the city to be closer to her mom and work in the local school. She is an outsider but feels like there are some strange things happening in the village. I am forgetting some of the details but this story really sets up a mood kinda like his movie, The Village. There is a tofu festival where there is an incident that happens that makes the teacher really confused about what’s going on in this village and if she’s losing her mind.

This novella is part of the Yeoyu: New Voices Korea set . I really enjoyed all the books in the set. Some of the chap books were spectactular while some were only ok but they all were very unique. They are also great short books you can easily read in one or two sittings in a coffee shop. Check out the publishers website, Strangers Press, for other book series like this.

Rating: ★★★

Book #58 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Savaged by Systemd by Michael Warren Lucas

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 14:34:43 +0800

I have no idea what I just read? Was this linux nerd erotica? Was this all just a joke? All I can say that this was weird and if you don’t know what systemd is or why there is a kerfuffle about it in linux, this probably won’t interest you.

The novella begins with a sysadmin taking care of servers late at night. I think he’s a FreeBSD or OpenBSD admin. Anyways, he gets a knock on the door and who could it be but his arch nemesis systemd! One thing leads to another and they knock boots, multiple times. There is graphic detail of human on ‘computer code’ sex. It was funny and strange.

“Code doesn’t just get up and walk around.”
  "Of course it does," Systemd said. "Haven't you read *Captivated by Clippy?*"
“What?”
  "That romance with the Microsoft Office Assistant?"
“I know what Clippy is! I spent five years hunting down ways to kill that damned paperclip!”
  Systemd's eyes rolled.

I won’t dissuade you from reading this but first read the drama surrounding systemd or the humour might be lost on you.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #57 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern by Jing Tsu

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 11:03:35 +0800

“…the Chinese language remained the greatest barrier for Westerners to understanding the minds of the Chinese. It is Cina’s first and last Great Wall.”

A look at China’s struggle to communicate with a rapidly changing world from the end of the Qinq dynasty to the mid 20th century. Technology changed very quickly in this time period and most of the inventions were made with the focus on alphabetical languages. China had to be cunning in politics while also creating new ways to interact with Chinese characters within China and with the West. They had to find ways to make the telegraph useful for sending messages. They had to create a Chinese typewriter. Chinese scholars struggled to find an easier way to ‘alphabetize’ and organize the Chinese language. This was not without heated internal debate. The Chinese script was about the only thing that wasn’t purged in Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution. The unique, and long used language is very special to the Chinese people.

I have only recently realized how computing tech is very difficult to make work with Chinese. I have spent many hours making ibus-chewing (the computer package that lets you type Chinese in the Taiwanese bopomofo style). It was very interesting to see how some of these problems were solved in the past. A lot of the systems they made to deal with these problems are still in use today. I hope in the future technology is more inclusive of all languages and countries in the world. The ability to communicate with others should not be hindered by technological barriers.

This book would be interesting for people that like to know the ‘behind the scenes’ stories of historical events in the past. Language nerds and those interested in technology will be especially interested in this book. I do feel it didn’t go far enough in parts but I assume in a story such as this, it is a constantly evolving situation; you have to draw the line somewhere and click publish.

Quotes I found amusing

“Even learning the Chinese script, some Chinese educators soon worried, wreaked havoc on the body. Fanned by the introduction of Western anatomy, especially of the brain and the nervous system, people began to fear that long-term exposure to rote-learning made one lose intelligence.”

Ha. I should ask my children what they think of this. A person who learns Chinese as their first language has to spend about 1-2 hours a day for 12 years to learn their language. English has 26 letters but Chinese has over 10,000 characters! Rote-learning irregardless of the language does make one lose their intelligence I think.

“If you asked someone, at the end of his diligent study - which may drag on for decades - what did you learn? He would say that he learned how to recognize the Chinese characters….Nine out of ten never move past this point. – Wang Zhao”

I worry about this with my children. They have to study so hard just to learn this difficult language that it feels their brains have little time for creativity and exploration of the world. I don’t know if this is just me judging the Taiwanese education system with my own ‘Western bias’ though.

“Wang never strayed from the beliefs he had shared with the emperor back in 1989: China was losing its power because language was failing its people. Their low literacy divided dialects impeded China’s ability to govern, negotiate with foreign poers, and keep pace with the outside world.

This is why the education system is so important for modern nations. It’s interesting equating language to power. I would say the whole Chinese culture of not questioning their emperor or elders stifles the culture of inovation/reform that inventors and business people need to take chances with new technology and ways of doing things.

Lu Xun: “If the Chinese script is not abolished, China will certainly perish”

Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) leader of the Nationalist government, tried three time sto push through (Chinese) simplification schemes

Wow! This is something I had never heard before. The KMT (Nationalist government, now a political party in Taiwan) seems to be the upholder of ‘Chineseness’. It seems the more conservative members of the government stopped this. I am glad they did. Traditional characters are so beautiful. It is almost a moot point about them having more strokes and being more difficult to write/read. With phones and computers now, the way most people interact with the characters is to type the bopomofo or pinyin, then visually confirm it is the correct character they want.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #56 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

War and Peas: funny comics for dirty lovers by Jonathan Kunz and Elizabeth Pich

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 22:24:12 +0800

This is a hilarious book filled with comics about death, friendship. The main characters are Death, Sexy Witch, Bob & Bob, Robot, and Officer McSexy. These comics will not appeal to most people. Do not give this to your grandmother as a gift (unless she’s kooky like that!). You have to have a pretty twisted sense of humour to enjoy them I think. Take a look and decide for yourself. If you enjoy the weirder and most controversial Farside comics, you probably will appreciate this style of humour.

I discovered these hilarious, and very dark comics on the fediverse*. I often chuckle when I see them post there. I saw someone else I followed bought this book. I thought, why not support these artists? I am trying to make a habit of directly supporting software and other people. I canceled my Spotify subscription. I use this phantom $5 USD I am saving every month to support software projects or other artists.

Anyways with all the craziness happening in this world, don’t you deserve a laugh?

The fediverse is what some people incorrectly refer to as Mastodon. The fediverse is made up of more than just Mastodon. It is all the programs that use the ActivityPub protocol to talk with each other. The most well-known of these include Mastodon, Pleroma, and Pixelfed.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #55 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:30:51 +0800

Shards of Earth

The Final Architecture #1

I love this author! Shards of Earth is about a time when humanity is threatened by the Architects. These are big, planet sized aliens that reconfigure worlds into twisted shapes utterly destroying it in the process. They are almost impossible to destroy or move from their purpose. Humanity has found that some special people, called ints, who have the ability to traverse ‘unspace’ with their minds and can communicate with the Architects.

One of these ints is part of a salvage crew and they are tasked to salvage something from unspace that looks awfully like an Architect destroyed it. Are the Architects back to finish off humanity? Many factions use this fact to further their agenda while this int gets caught in the middle. He’s one of the special ints that hasn’t gone crazy from the first wars.

Eyes of the Void

The Final Arhitecture #2

After finishing the first in this series, I rushed right into the second. This is always a risky proposition - either you will be satisfied by a sequel that is as good or better than the first, or disapointed by a lacklustre sequel; there is usually no middle ground here. Thankfully, I would put this book in the former category. It built upon the great things in book one and still pushed the story further along.

It delves further into the story of who are the Architects and where do they come from? How can we stop them?

PS I’ve never really been disapointed by any books written by Tchaikovsky so I’d encourage you to try him out. I have read many of his books!

He reminds me in some ways of Cherryh and her weird scifi worlds which aren’t always dominated by human-like aliens.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #53-54 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Stoner by John Williams

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 20:39:41 +0800

Despite the name, this is not about marijuana! It is a biography of a pretty ordinary man who lives his life. He moves through his life but also wonders about the big questions like what makes life worth living? How to judge if you’ve had a ‘good life’? As I find myself approaching the middle of my life, I have become a lot more contemplative on my life. I sometimes think about the decisions I made in the past. Were they the right ones? Have I lived a good life? I also look to the future and try to navigate the difficult decisions of life: jobs, career, and family.

I think this type of book might not appeal to someone younger. Once you exit your twenties and maybe have a job, a mortgage, kids, and a spouse, this book might be more interesting to you as you start looking more seriously at your future.

“Having come to his studies late, he felt the urgency of study. Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read; and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know”

I feel this emotion so much. I read about 100 books a year but I still feel it isn’t enough. I feel time slipping through my fingers and there isn’t a goddamn thing I can do about it. I think this is why I am so critical of TV shows and movies. If a movie can’t even get 80% on RottenTomatoes, it probably isn’t worth my time. I also judge books harshly, too. There simply isn’t enough time in life to read and watch garbage. Use your time wisely children. Life seems like it is so long but soon you’ll find yourself in middle age and wondering where the years have gone.

“He had come to that moment in his age when there occured to him, with increasing intensity, a question of such overwhelming simplicity that he had no means to face it. He found himself wondering if his life were worth the living; if it had ever been.”

Though he thinks about these big questions, the character never turns to religion as many do. I don’t even think religion is mentioned at all in this book.

“He knew that never, after these few years, would teaching be quite the same; and he commited himself to a happy state of exhaustion which he hoped might never end. He seldom though of the past or the future, or of the disapointments and joys of either; he concentrated all the energies which he was capable upon the moment of his work and hoped that he was at last defined by what he did.”

Sadly, I feel like this right now. I’m at an awesome school with an amazing group of teachers and students. I don’t know how long it will last but I’ll stay here until it stops being awesome. I will feel so sad later if this turns out to be the most enjoyable teaching experience of my life. I hope that doesn’t turn out to be the case.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #52 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 22:37:16 +0800

After reading “Say Nothing” by Patrick Radden Keefe, I knew I had found a journalist that could take an intricate and difficult story and tell it in a compelling way. Say Nothing is an excellent book about ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, which you should read if you haven’t already, but this review isn’t about that book. When I saw that he had written another non-fiction book, I knew I had to read it. I was glad I did.

Rogues is a collection of strange but fascinating true crime stories. Remember when we actually used to read magazines and get drawn into those long, fascinating stories we didn’t know would be interesting until we started reading them? These stories reminded me of that feeling. I remember poring through National Geographic magazines and getting into those articles. Long-form journalism isn’t dead, as this collection of stories shows us, but it is certainly hard to find those that do it well. I was interested in every story of this book. There was no filler.

Every story was interesting in a way that made me want to learn even more about the topic: Wine tasters what are they? Bourdain made lots of shows, I want to watch some now.

Summer is the season to travel, and this is the perfect book to sit down and get lost in as you wait to board your plane, or ride the train through Europe. It’s hard to define what a ‘summer read’ is but I think this one qualifies. This is a book that I think appeals to almost anyone. Who doesn’t like to read about villians and try to understand a bit about what makes them tick?

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #50 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness by Shin Kyung-sook

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 22:10:17 +0800

I am a huge fan of Korean translated fiction. Translated fiction in general allows you to get into another culture and learn its history, and way of thinking from an authentic voice.

This novel was set in Korea during the 1970s and even goes into 1980 when the Gwangju Uprising happened. The author describes her life as a country girl who moves to Seoul trying to make it. She ends up working in a factory. There is a push to unionize the factory and she gets caught in the middle of that. She struggles to get education and even get food to eat sometimes. She eventually does make it as a writer but it was a beautiful novel about the joys and difficulty of life.

“This book, I believe, has turned out to be not quite fact and not quite fiction, but something in between. I wonder if it can be called literature, I ponder the act of writing. What does writing mean to me?”

As much as this novel is about her life, it is also about her journey to becoming a writer. Do all great artists need a painful childhood to produce great art? I’m not sure but her life was certainly was a struggle.

If you are interested in another novel that is fully focused on the Gwangju Uprising, you might want to read Human Acts by Han Kang.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #49 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Trial of Julian Assange: A Story of Persecution by Nils Melzer

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 21:31:14 +0800

I had heard of Wikileaks and the excellent work they had done exposing the terrible war crimes of the US and other states around the world. I had also heard about the rape allegations against the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. I kept wondering, why were reputable news organizations and other people on Mastodon calling for Assange’s release? Before reading this novel, my view of Assange’s reputation had been blackened by all the news stories I had heard about his rape allegations.

I am glad I have read this book. Like the author, Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, I had dismissed Assange as a person who did good work for Wikileaks but was personally a Very Bad Guy. Melzer at first didn’t want to look into the case but as he started to investigate it, he realized that many things didn’t add up.

This is a well-researched book that shows how the US, Sweden, and the UK, used the ‘law’ and other means at their disposal to tarnish Assange’s reputation to try to distract people from the really damning evidence of war crimes and other malfeasance that had been published by Wikileaks. They also inflicted psychological torture on him to try and destroy him.

Let’s begin with the rape allegations in Sweden. They kept this case alive for 9 years as a preliminary investigation. This is shocking! If you have evidence, prosecute someone. This ‘investigation’ was started and stopped many times to keep Assange’s name in the news beside that very ugly word ‘rape’. It was a ruse to try and justify extraditing him to Sweden for the ‘investigation’ to then extradite him again to the US where he would be mercilessly abused in the US prison system. As an example of what was in store for Assange, look at how the US treated Chelsea Elizabeth Manning for years after leaking the video Collateral Murder to Wikileaks. Collateral Murder shows two AH-64 Apache helicopters in Iraq gunning down 8 people, including 2 war correspondents, and the medical personnel who later come to their aid. The US does not like their war crimes on the internet for all to see and will stop at nothing to distract people from their dirty deeds and silence those that speak out.

“Assange is not persecuted for his own crimes, but for the crimes of the powerful. It is the powerful who undermine our democratic institutions and the rule of law; who refuse to prosecute torture, war crimes and corruption; who betray our legal systems and shared values. We are talking about wars of aggression, torture, murder…The fact that not a single military commander, political leader, soldier or other official has been held accountable, gravely sabotages our credibility, legitimacy and authority of our democratic institutions, and should send a cold chill down our spines.”

Then there is the treatment of Assange while in the Equadorian embassy in the UK. The British government spent over $12.6 million pounds to surround and surveil Assange for years for an overdue bail charge. This seems going above and beyond to try and get a person in the UK extradited to Sweden. This was special attention by the UK government to please the US.

“Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service were stationed outside the embassy from June 2012 to October 2015 to arrest Assange if he left the embassy, and compel him to attend the extradition appeal hearing. The police officers were withdrawn on grounds of cost in October 2015, but the police said they would still deploy “several overt and covert tactics to arrest him”. The Metropolitan Police Service said the cost of the policing for the period was £12.6 million.” (source)

I cannot summarize the whole book here but the political prosecution has been brutal, and it will only get much more brutal if the US gets its wish to have him extradited to the US to face up to 175 years in prison for releasing evidence on US war crimes.

US private intel firm, Stratfor 2010: “Pile on. Move him [Assange] from country to country to face various charges for the next 25 years. Seize everything he and his family own to include every person linked to Wiki.”

My mind was changed after reading this book. This is a worthy read to understand the timeline and backstory of the whole Julian Assange saga. An attack on Assange is attack on freedom of speech and journalists everywhere in the world. The US will try to get you, with help from their friends in their many signals intelligence alliances around the world if you speak the uncomfortable truths that governments don’t like to hear.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #48 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 21:56:43 +0800

“I could not help feeling that they were evil things– mountains of madness whose farther slopes looked out over some accursed ultimate abyss. That seething , half-luminous cloud-background held ineffable suggestions of a vague, ethereal beyondness far more than terrestrially spatial; and gave appalling reminders of the utter remoteness, separateness, desolation, and aeon-long death of this untrodden and unfathomed austral world.”

A slow unraveling of a polar expedition that discovers something very old hidden beneath the ground. The find more and more perplexing things until there is an incident. A few men go deep into the mountains of madness to try to figure out what happened. This book is written as sort of journal where one of the expedition members tries to warn others against exploring those mountains.

Lovecraft is a master of weaving a story that builds a lot of tension and fills you with a sense of dread. He hints at most of the scary, and terrible things that happened but that is usually enough. He then lets the readers' imagination build the rest of the picture using his prompts. I love his writing style. His sentences are also wordy and use curious vocabulary which reminds me of older writing from the late 1800s, like The Moonstone for example.

This is actually the first Lovecraft book I have read but I read another book, The Flock of Ba Hui and Other Stories, that pays homage to his writing style and themes. That book ultimately led me to read this book as well as the beautiful cover of this edition (Penguin English Library edition, ISBN: 9780241341315).

I shall now be on the hunt to read another unsettling story from this famous author. Maybe you now want to pick up this very short book (123 pages) and learn for yourself the meaning of ‘Lovecraftian’ horror?

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #47 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

All Backs Were Turned by Marek Hłasko

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 21:43:53 +0800

“You are charged with disrupting public order in the city of Tel Aviv on June fifth. Do you plead guilty?” “No,” Dov said. “As fast as I remember, there’s never been any order in this city.”

This is how this book begins. Maybe it is just this war, or just these times but it is refreshing to read a story about dysfunctional people in bad situations. People who are struggling with work, love, and masculinity. You know the main characters will lose but you keep reading. You want to see what happens. I seem to be in a mood where I read dark, gloomy novels and enjoy them.

“…You should know how it is with a new job. In the beginning it tires you out, then you get used to it, and then you stop enjoying it. It’s almost always like that.”

Hlasko seems to really get capitalism. It sucks. He forgot to say you get old and then die, too. This is a common thread in his novels that I have read, too. Young men, in the prime of their life, can’t find meaningful work or relationships. Could this be a reflection on his own life? If you don’t know about his life, go read the Wikipedia page. It is quite the life of moving around and searching for something, quite like the characters in his novels.

“Strong men always think they can improve the minds of fools. And wise men think they can improve the minds of fools. It never works. In the end strong men go down because of weaklings and wise men go made because of fools. It’s always been like that. How come you decided to ask me for help?”

Israel, the main character, is weak but tries to be a tough guy. He latches on to Dov and treats him like his mentor. They are both bouncing from gig to gig trying to make some money. They are directionless in life. Dov actually is a tough guy who has gotten into some trouble. They both move to the southern city of Eilat to find work. Instead of work, they find more trouble; they can’t seem to run away from themselves.

“…I’m telling you to go away. Take my advice, sonny boy.” “I’ll get used to it,” Israel said. “Yeah, you might get used to this country. But you won’t learn to like it.”

Hlasko’s characters are often foreigners or travelers trying to find their way in their world. Though I have settled down from my own nomadic life, I still feel I’m traveling. Aren’t we all traveling? Living in Taiwan for 10 years already and still learning to like it.

“I see,” the old man said. “You came here so you’d never again have to look upon violence. Beautifully said, Israel.” He took a step toward him. “Do you think the men who came here before you had this country had it handed to them on a plate?” he asked. “No, Israel. Nobody gave it to them. To take it, they had to resort to violence, and the best of them died doing it, as usually happens. How can you, a Jew, speak to me of violence?”

This captures the irony of the state of Israel perfectly.

“I like my coffee very sweet,” she said. “How does the German saying about coffee go?” “Coffee should be dark as night, sweet as sin, and strong as love,” he said. His tired face twisted into a gloomy smile. “Funny it’s the Germans who say that. Germans don’t know anything about coffee.”

Hlasko always has these little humorous asides that aren’t really connected to the main story but are enjoyable to read. Here, the love interest of Israel is musing about coffee with another German tourist. The men in all of Hlasko’s books have a difficult, and I would say toxic relationships with women. All the men in his novels haven’t even figured out their own lives, so why should they know how to interact with women?

Did I enjoy this? Yes. I have enjoyed all Hlasko’s books I have read thus far. I need something to soothe me in these times and perfect superheroes in spandex just isn’t cutting it for me.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #45 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappé

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 08:21:20 +0800

Ilan Pappe, a Israeli Jewish historian, is one of the best writers on the Palestine-Israel problem.

He explores these key questions:

Was Palestine an empty land at the time of the Balfour Declaration?
Were the Jews a people without a land?
Is there no difference between Zionism and Judaism?
Is Zionism not a colonial project of occupation?
Did the Palestinians leave their homeland voluntarily in 1948?
Was the June 1967 War a war of -no choice-?
Is Israel the only democracy in the Middle East?
Were the failed Oslo negotiations of 1992 the PLO’s fault?
Was it a question of national security to bomb Gaza?
Is the Two States Solution still achievable?

This book is a great starting point to learning more about Israel. He lays out the history of Israel by exploring the 10 myths that the Israeli state has propagated since the beginning of its existence. It is incredible how much the UK and other Western powers helped Israel dispossess Palestinians of their land right from the beginning. Sadly, until the US stops protecting Israel and supplying it with weapons and money, it will be hard to dismantle this state. I am glad that people are moving towards BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) to move Israel to change. This is what was used against apartheid South Africa.

After reading this, I hope it helps you think about some of your biases and notions of Israel that have probably come from mainstream news. Remember being anti-Israeli oppression doesn’t mean you are against Judaism, no matter what Israel says.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #44 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Tales From the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 20:45:54 +0800

A fascinating collection of stories from an ant expert. There is some flow between the stories but there isn’t an overarching narrative. Mr. Wilson has bits and pieces of his biography in here telling you how he came to want to study ants and some of the interesting projects he worked on in his life. The stories were interesting but for me they weren’t detailed enough. I wanted more. They just start to get interesting and then he moves onto another story. This book comes off as listening to fragments of interesting stories from grandpa.

This book is highly rated and I know why. It makes people feel smart. “Look at me! I read a non-fiction book about science”. It was a very easy read. The chapters are short. Mr. Wilson is a pretty good writer, so if you’re looking for a light, super light book about ants, this may be what you’re looking for. If you want an in-depth book about ants, this isn’t the book for you. Sadly, this book didn’t really make me that happy but on the plus side it was a very fast read.

Rating: ★★

Book #43 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Mon, 20 Jun 2022 20:45:43 +0800

I discovered this book at the used bookstore and it was calling to me. It was a writer I had heard a lot about but had never actually read. The book was a Mini Gramercy Classic edition. It was a small, beautifully bound book with a ribbon as a book mark. The cover was a simple red and white pattern. I had to have it!

I carried this book around with me very easily over a period of a few weeks. It fit in my pocket so easily. The built-in ribbon bookmark allowed me to digest a quick chapter as my children played at the park or other small moments when I could read.

This book is an intricate story about what it was like to be a upper-middle class lady looking for a good marriage. It is set in 1813, so this was a very important thing for a lady. It is about a family with many girls in the family. The important girls are Jane and Elizabeth. It is mostly about Elizabeth though Jane is features prominently in the beginning. You will almost be convinced the story is about Jane until about midway through the book.

Elizabeth is an outspoken young lady who speaks her mind. She meets a man, Mr. Darcy, and really detests him. There are balls. There are rumours. Other characters enter, and exit the story. Some reveal more information about Mr. Darcy and others. Eventually, as in every good love story, Elizabeth and Darcy are united in marriage as well as a few of the other girls.

This is a slow burn. It moves along at a sedate pace but that isn’t to say it is boring. Little bits of information are slowly revealed of the different characters emotions. Life seems pretty good if you have ‘income’ from property in the late 1800s. If you can choke down your desire to shout ‘eat the rich!’ when you hear about some of the income these male characters have*, it is an enjoyable love story.

Mr. Darcy has an annual income of £10,000. £10,000 in 1813 is worth £739,186.85 today. Wow! You did well for yourself Elizabeth!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #42 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War by Nicholas Mulder

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 20:50:35 +0800

This isn’t a book about if sanctions are good or bad. It’s about the history of sanctions and what effect they have had on war and politics. It goes through the arguments of different countries of when and where to deploy the ‘economic weapon’. It is a narrative of certain events in world history when sanctions were deployed, threatened, or planned to be used. This is a pretty dry history book but has gained a bit more relevance due recent current events.

Right now, the world is deploying sanctions on Russia to a degree never before seen. What isn’t so clear is what affect it is having on Russia.

I have collected some interesting quotes that caught my eye while reading the book and interspersed some commentary in there too. A lot of the commentary is about the current Russian war of aggression. It’s hard not to try to think about that as I read a book about sanctions as a weapon of war.

“The economic weapon, the most decisive, which can, without a drop of blood, bring the aggressor to his knees, will be used,” wrote the French newspaper editor Le’on Bailby in 1918.

“Another French solidariste and friend of Bourgeois was anthropologist Marcel Mauss. A draft document from 1918 found in his personal files contains an ingenious plan for automatic international sanctions. It introduced the concept of “contraband of peace”, defined as all foreign property and commercial goods based in or traversing another nation’s territory. In case of a treaty violation, this wealth could be seized and auctioned off by the nation proven in the right by an international organization.”

It is an interesting concept of seizing property of the aggressor nation and using the funds to finance the war against them.

“…the British delegation had changed its stance on this for legal reasons: under common law, His Majesty’s Government could not claim the authority to institute coercive economic measures without officially declaring war.”

Are sanctions war? It isn’t really said aloud but most would agree that sanctions are a type of war. We have gotten so used to them though that they aren’t that surprising anymore. The US has been using sanctions against China and Iran for a long time.

“…the use of economic pressure in peacetime was beset with problems. Who would suffer most from being deprived of access to trade? Would blockade-caused hunger and socioeconomic collapse stifle Bolshevism or spur it? And who determined when the isolation of the defeated and revolutionary states of East and Central Europe would end?”

We still struggle with these questions. Do we block food or only ‘military’ goods? Who defines what goods are for the military?

“British leaders hoped that limited exchange would soften and dull Bolshevism more effectively than maximum economic pressure. Lloyd George explained to the House of Commons: “We have failed to restore Russia to sanity by force. I believe we can save her by trade. Commerce has a sobering influence in its operations. … The Russian with his head in the clouds finds he is cold, and discovers thathe is not clad and that he is hungry … There is but one way - we must fight anarchy with abundance.” Lloyd George subscribed to a version of the older liberal idea of doux commerce, the notion that trade is inherently civilizing.”

This hasn’t worked with China nor Russia. This idea needs to go the way of the dodo.

“Elliot Felkin (1924) I think personally that we should make sanctions as automatic and as terrible to the entire government, fighting forces and civil population of the aggressor state as we can without resorting to arms or landing ourselves in such trouble with neutrals as to entail the breaking up of our system of sanctions owing to their opposition, and I think the more successful we are in making life in the aggressor state intolerable to the ordinary man & woman the more likely are we in a modern democratic state to break down the resistance of the recalcitrant state or indeed prevent a potential aggressor from becoming recalcitrant.”

We seem to be having this same ethical discussion in 2022. Total sanctions against Russia or slow sanctions? Do sanctions hurt regular people? or maybe that should be the point? We have tried to make war ‘nicer’ and more ‘humane’ with guided missiles and limits on types of weapons that can be used but has that made war more rare? No, it seems there are ‘forever wars’ all over the world.

“Sanctions were considered economic, nonviolent, pacific, and civilian in nature, distinguishing them from physical, violent, belligerent military measures. They came to be conceived of as a political rather than a military instrument, were integrated into diplomatic practice, and could be administered by technocrats rather than professional soldiers.”

“German banker Carl Melchior, friend to Keynes (1927): “If it would be possible … to unite the capitalist powers in a kind of economic and financial blockade against Russia,… then such a move would bring Russia in an extraordinarily difficult economic and financial position, but it would in my view not lead to the downfall of the current government. The Russian people would then, as long as this situation remains, tighten their belts one or two notches.”

Seems sanctions never really were seen as useful against such huge countries as Russia and China. These large nations are difficult to encircle, have huge amount of resources within their borders, and aren’t that particular about repressing dissent in their own people.

“William Arnold-Forster, a Labour Party member who denied the possibility of distinguishing between state and civilian supplies. “Every attempt thus to cut in half the weapon of blockade is doomed to failure, for the distinctions on which it rests do not really exist,”..the lesson of the world war was that “army and nation were one.””

“Sanctions were the dark side of liberalism, a superficially neutral tool that in fact hid old-fashioned power politics.”

“E.H. Carr’s foundational text of international relations realism, The Twenty Years' Crisis (1939), held that the League’s sanctions were misguided since the countries imposing them were not prepared to use military force as an ultimate backstop.

Exactly the problem NATO is having. Putin knows that NATO is loathe to send in troops and even lose 100 soldiers. He will just weather the sanctions.

“Once it was accepted that the U.S. government should regulate trade with warring states to avoid war, it was only a short distance to regulating trade to stop war. Neutrality legislation, intended as a roadblock against U.S. global interventionism, eventually became a stepping-stone in its rise to primacy instead.”

The US is one of the countries that has used sanctions the most since World War 2.

“When the Swiss diplomat and League high commissioner Carl Burckhardt visited Hitler at his Bavarian summer residence on 11 August, the Fuhrer told him, “I need Ukraine, so that they cannot again starve us out like in the last war.”

“Hitler, all too familiar with the fear of blockade, agreed and added that “if one doesn’t want to wait to have one’s throat cut, one must strike just beforehand, and Japan rightly recognized and did this.”

The economic sanctions from WW1 weighed heavily on the mind of Hitler it seemed. Currently in the Russian-Ukrainian war, it feels that Russia certainly knew they would be sanctioned for being the aggressor in the war but didn’t seem to care. Sanctions are not that feared by certain leaders, and types of countries. As an energy exporting country, Russia can weather these sanctions better than smaller countries that import their energy and food.

“The American jurist Edwin Borchard attacked the disposition in 1946, arguing that “the chameleonic epithet ‘aggressor’…is applied selectively to those particular disturbers of the status quo whom the dominant states happen to dislike….It is responsible for the doctrine of sanctions, designed to bend nations to the will of the ruling group.”

“At the time of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 there had been many who had criticized sanctions as the illicit continuation of war in peacetime.”

“…World War I had shattered the old belief that people were inherently peaceful and only the rulers belligerent. The innovation of sanctions was to rely on economic total war to intimidate peoples into restraining their princes. Interwar sanctionists transformed the liberal state, defended the League, attacked neutrality, stigmatized aggression, and justified the threat and application of coercion against civilians.”

“…commodity control was not where Washington’s advantage was greatest. Its hegemony derived less from goods trade than from international leadership in corporate, regulatory, technological, and financial structures - an ensemble of capacities that policymakers have come to see as tools of “economic statecraft””

“League sanctions against Italy were not effective in stopping Mussolini or saving Ethiopia, but they had marked effects on the Italian regime and the autarkic aims and trajectories of Nazi Germany and Japan. Blockade-phobia meant that the unintended and counterproductive effects of the policy overtook its political goals. It is in this dynamic interaction between effects and efficacy that the true historical significance of sanctions lies, in the era of the world wars as much as in the present.”

After this war with Russia is concluded, I wonder what new lessons we will learn about using sanctions in war.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #41 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 20:41:22 +0800

This was a long book (739 pages) and I had the misfortune of being right in the middle of it when Taiwan was getting battered with a COVID19 outbreak. Some nights I was just too tired to get into this. There were nights that I didn’t know where this was going but I’m glad I stuck with it.

It’s good to have an idea of the zeitgeist. People get bored. Something must be going on at all times; there must be drama, otherwise it seems like nothing’s happening at all, like life has come to a standstill. If life moves along at its own pace, everything feels motionless.

At first this seems like a story about an old woman who is old and dying. Let’s call her Grandma. She doesn’t have any life left in her after her husband dies but her family, which is filled with the types of oddballs all families have, tries to bring her back to life. The woman slowly comes back to life and moves out of the family house. The story is told from the different perspectives of some of the family members. We even get it from the perspective of a crow! How is that related? Well, when you read it, it will all make sense.

Every part of the body has a border. So does the heart. A border surrounds it but it also binds it to the other parts. It doesn’t wrench the heart from the rest. Fools! If you cut a border through a heart, you don’t call it a border, you call it a wound. If you lock a heart inside a border, the heart will break.

Once she moves out of the family house and into her daughters house the woman really starts to change. She seems energized and even starts to seem younger. This part of the novel was mostly told from the daughter’s perspective. Why was she coming back to life? What did she have to live for? It appeared it was just because of her friendship with a trans woman but later we will find it goes much deeper than that.

Asses! A border stops nothing. It is a bridge between two connected parts. Between night and day. Life and death. Finding and losing. They are bound together. You can’t separate them.

Eventually, Grandma insists on a trip to Pakistan. They live in India and there has been bad blood between those countries because of Partition. They eventually go to Pakistan and visit different places. They eventually get caught by the police for traveling to Pakistan without a proper visa. On her trip it starts to become clear that Grandma had a horrible time during Partition*.

A border is a horizon. Where two worlds meet. And Embrace

It was a great book. It was about family dynamics and ‘dealing’ with an elderly relative. It was about aging. How do you deal with aging? What is important to you? What is the proper way to act? It was about dealing with trauma but that doesn’t become clear until the end. It’s an uplifting story about a woman who wants to see her hometown before she dies. It’s about borders and how they hurt people and families. She is very brave and this had a great ending. I love reading books from other cultures.

A border is love. Love does not create a jail, it throws out stars that surmount all obstacles. A border is a line of meeting. It pairs this way and that way to create a pleasing shap. It happens when the two meet. It is a confluence. A sangam.

I picked up this book because it was a finalist in the Man Booker International book competition. This is the only book award I religiously follow. I have learned about so many amazing countries and stories from different cultures by reading finalists from this award. I recently found out that this book recently won the 2022 Man Booker International Prize. It is a well-deserved win for the Indian author.

*Partition. What exactly happened between India and Pakistan? I really don’t know much about this history, so I had to visit Wikipedia

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #40 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Pinephone as a Daily Driver

Mon, 30 May 2022 22:13:24 +0800

Mission: Pinephone as Daily Driver

Now that my Pinephone is here and I’ve tried a few distros, it’s time to try and make it my ‘daily driver’, or at least maybe use as a weekend phone*

Essential Functions!

Everybody will have a different idea about what they need for a phone they will use everyday. Currently, I’m using a cheap Asus phone with LineageOS 18.1. I didn’t install Google Services on my phone. If it doesn’t work on my phone, it is a good indicator to me that too much Google crap is baked into it.

One day, or in an ideal world, I hope to fully transition to a Linux or 100% free hardware phone. I detest giving money to smart phone companies. I don’t want them to think that me buying a phone from Asus is a thumbs up to their business model. I would rather give them the finger and support a company like Shift phones, Fairphone, or Pine64.

So how do I get there? Slowly, apparently. First I need to define what I need, ranked by how often I use the functions, and which app currently gives me this functionality in Android. Then, I need to look for alternatives on my Pinephone.

basic XMPP chat (Conversations)
work chat (LINE*)
browse the web (Bromite/Firefox)
file sync (Nextcloud)
calendar sync (Nextcloud)
contacts sync (Nextcloud)
listen to podcasts (AntennaPod+)
listen to music (NewPipe)
take photos (OpenCamera)
watch movies/TV (NewPipe/Netflix)
encrypted chat/video (Signal)
phone calls
SMS
look at maps (web browser Google Maps website/OsmAnd~)

LINE will be the most difficult app to be able to get onto a Linux phone. It is already impossible to get on Linux unless you use WINE or run a VM. I am not sure it is realistic to ever expect that this Android app, or others will work easily on Linux mobile. I only really need it for work so I might be stuck keeping a cheap Android phone around as a junk phone for a few terrible apps like this.

Nice to Have Functions

These are a few other things I occasionally do on my phone and would be ‘nice to have’. Again, they are ordered by importance to me and what I currently use.

Mastodon app (Tusky)
Android app store (F-droid/Aurora) (wow that’s it? My needs are pretty modest as you can see)

Pinephone Progress

Here is what I’ve done so far to try to tick the boxes in the essential apps I need for a ‘daily driver’ phone.

I’m using Mobian+Phosh because of my familiarity with Debian/Ubuntu command line, and the ease in which I can update the whole distro without flashing with an SD card.

Basic Chat = Dino-im* ✔

Chatty is the default app in Phosh. It is just OK. It works really well for the small screen but OEMO encryption doesn’t seem to work at all. They seem to use some libpurple plugin?

I am waiting for Dino-im to be patched and work for Mobian. I tried Dino-im on postmarketOS and it was beautiful and encryption worked.

After waiting awhile and failing to compile dino-im, I installed it from Debian experimental repository by making these changes.

/etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main

/etc/apt/preferences.d/00-mobian-priority.conf
Package: dino-im
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 800'

Info on this repository stuff: https://wiki.debian.org/DebianExperimental

Work Chat = ✘

I need LINE app for work.

Waydroid is being played with on mobile phones but it is in the alpha stages. I honestly won’t even try with this at the moment. I will focus on the other winnable battles.

I did find a LINE Chrome extension that lets me use LINE but it won’t function as a primary device. I have to login using my Android phone. It ‘forgets’ my password everytime I shutdown Chromium.

Browse the Web = Firefox ESR ✔

Firefox is already pre-installed on Pinephone. I made a few tweaks as directed from Mobian.

Chromium is also quite good and handles multiple tabs much better, too!

Listen to Podcasts = Podcasts ✔

I tried a few podcast apps but settled on the appropriately named Podcasts installed with Flatpak.

I was using gPodder for a bit but I didn’t like how it opened a separate media player app to ‘play’ the podcast. I do like the interface of gPodder better but convenience and performance wins out on this one.

Listen to Music = ✘

I want something that I can load up YouTube playlists and listen to music in the background. I used to use Spotify but have recently canceled the service so I need an app that lets me access YouTube without logging into YouTube.

I tried TubeFeeder but it seems to want me to login to Google YouTube. Umm..NO! I also tried the FreeTube app but it is slow and doesn’t work well.

I’m still looking for a good app. For now I will just browse to an Invidious instance like https://yewtu.be to watch/listen to music occasionally.

Take Photos = Megapixels ✔

The camera hardware is only 5 MP. There is not much that can be done about the quality of the images it takes but I hope that the speed and usability of Megapixels will improve in the future.

Watch Movies/TV = ✘

I don’t watch many movies/TV shows on my phone. I doubt the Netflix app will ever be released for Linux.

Encrypted Chat/Video = ✘

I haven’t started trying to meet this need yet. They are two apps that might work: Axoltl and the official Signal-desktop app

Nice to Have

Mastodon = Pinafore.social webapp ~

I made Pinafore.social a webapp because Tokodon and Tootle don’t seem to work with my self-hosted Gotosocial Mastodon instance.

I made the web app using Epiphany (web) but it is not as nice as Firefox. Pinafore.social doesn’t go all the way to the sides of the phone and scrolling is not smooth.

Nextcloud Contacts, Calendar, Files = Nextcloud-desktop ✔

Nextcloud was a bit annoying to get working but it is now working. The scaling is very terrible on the app so go to Gnome Settings and set the display size to 100%. Everything will be tiny but you can setup the app how you like. After it is setup, go back to displays and set it back to 200%.

I was having a “credentials expired” error for a while. I fixed it by deleting ~/.config/goa-1.0/accounts.conf. Then I added my account again and restarted. Calendar works pretty quick. However, to get Contacts to work I had to add a contact on the Nextcloud web interface to ‘trigger’ the Pinephone to update my Contacts.

Mission: Ready for launch!

Now that I have all my apps and core services ready I will put my SIM card in my phone and try it out for a week. I am excited to see how it will work.

I stil will have to check my Android phone for LINE messages but that can’t be helped for now.

I Have a Pinephone, Finally

Tue, 24 May 2022 07:45:26 +0800

Bought it!

I finally bought a Pinephone. I was excited about it from the moment I heard about it 2 years ago but held off on buying it for a long while to let the software mature. After using it for one week, I’m overall disapointed with it but don’t regret buying it one bit. I thought it would be closer to a ‘daily driver’ after a few years in development but am still impressed and excited about the possibilites for mobile Linux in the future.

Software

Manjaro KDE

When it arrived, it was preloaded with Manjaro KDE. I used that for a day but it was really rough around the edges. I installed the 1 GB of updates and it was a bit nicer but not to my liking.

PostmarketOS + Phosh

The next day I tried postmarketOS (pmOS). It is a much nicer experience out of the box. Phosh comes closer to a ‘mobile phone’ experience that a typical android/iOS user would expect. Some of the apps are really well suited for mobile. Dino-im is one of the best apps on it. Flatpak is integrated very well into the Software app. Ultimately, I liked it much better than Manjaro KDE but there were not as many apps available for it as I would’ve liked. I also had to give Mobian a try, too!

Mobian + Phosh

Another major issue that really pushed me to install mobian is the easy ability to upgrade the distribution without upgrading from an sd card. The use of Tow Boot, a universal phone bootloader, is very cool, too! Why should every phone distribution have to include its own bootloader? Think of Tow Boot of the grub of linux mobile.

Installing Tow Boot was very easy. I now still have the sd card I installed Mobian from in my phone. If there is ever an issue with my phone, I can hold up (or is it down?) to boot from the sd card. I can also press down while booting up the phone to use my phone as a USB drive.

Using Mobian is very similiar to pmOS because they both use Phosh. In the terminal, I can use my familiar “apt install” debian commands that I’m very used to. One annoyance for me is that Dino-im is still the non-reactive version (pmOS has the reactive version!). Mobian seems to have lots more apps available but debian packagers definitely move a bit slower than other distros in making official packages.

Hardware

The hardware is pretty impressive for an ‘open’ device. It has hardware ‘kill switches’ to turn off things you don’t want. The case is easy to take off and replace. The battery can be removed. Unfortunately, the sd card and sim card cannot be put in without taking out the battery. I really dislike taking out the battery because it is really hard to pry it out. I use a metal ruler to pry it out but am very worried I will pierce the battery one day. The phone heats up a lot with normal use. It doesn’t burn your hand but it gets really warm. The phone only has 3 GB of RAM which gets used up pretty quick. The battery life is OK but cannot last as long as any average Android phone.

Since this is more like a mini linux computer than a mobile phone, you can do lots of the same things you can do with linux. You can run an ssh server on your phone that makes it easy to login to your phone and use the terminal. You can use the convergence usb hub to hook it up to a monitor or keyboard. You could use this in many interesting ways.

It feels like the whole open-source community is building awesome software (LineageOS, apps on F-Droid) but building it for closed hardware. It’s a shame that the open-source community isn’t getting more behind pure linux phones. I hope that development will be helped again with the release of the Pinephone Pro.

Software Fragmentation

I really thought that the software would be in a more polished state after 2 years. There are really too many operating systems available for linux phones - Ubuntu, Manjaro, Mobian, pmOS and another dozen that are smaller. If they worked together more we might be farther along.

There are so many version of different apps. For web browsers alone there is gnome-epiphany, firefox-esr, angelfish, firefox, and a more. The choice is great but what if there were just 3 that worked incredibly fast and fit incredibly well on the small screen?

Why isn’t there an app store that works for all the OS’s? Luckily there is Flatpak and that is actually quite cool.

Final Thoughts

I am proud to own a linux phone and support freedom. I just wish it could be my ‘daily driver’. I’ll talk about my journey into making it a ‘daily driver’ for me in another post.

Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience by Gitta Sereny

Tue, 03 May 2022 22:37:50 +0800

Despite having a swastika on the cover, this was a very tame book. If you want a book about the history of concentration camps - this isn’t the right book for you*. If you want character study of one of the men who enabled the extermination of humans to continue in Nazi Germany, this is the book you’re looking for.

Gitta Sereny interviews a key character, Franz Stangl, who is a part of the extermination camps. He actually becomes the Commandant of Treblinka. She talks to him while he was in prison. She doesn’t have an aggressive style of questioning. She’s not interrogating him to find out ‘if he did it’ because he’s already in prison for ‘doing it’. She instead wants to find out what went on in his mind. How did he justify being a part of the death camps? How did it happen? Was it a conscious choice? What was it like working in that environment? How did that make him feel? Would he have done things differently if he could? How did he escape from Germany after the war?

Along with long interviews with Stangl, the author also interweaves interviews with Stangl’s wife, other family members, and other SS soldiers. Sometimes these other people definitely show that Stangl is lying but other times it just shows how other people interpreted and found different ways to cope with the awful war.

At the end of the book, you don’t want to say your empathize with Stangl, but you can understand how he got into some of this and how it’s difficult for us who didn’t live through it all to judge him. You do get a sense that Stangl does really care for his wife and children. He also really was conscious of how they saw him. He knew deep down he was doing terrible things, but didn’t take a stand. It also makes you wonder, if one Stangl did refuse to do his duty, would’ve they just kept on killing with another Commandant? How many people would’ve it taken to refuse to do the work for something to change?

A wholly fascinating side journey that he author takes us through is how much the Pope and the Vatican knew about the killings in Poland. Why didn’t they speak up? There were a few brave priests who tried to do something but the Pope was almost wholly silent on the matter. She brings forth some pretty damning evidence of this.

This also leads to the end of the book where the author asks about how Stangl escaped Europe with the help of some Catholic priests from the Vatican. It seems the Vatican knew, or looked the other way, while Nazi war criminals were being spirited out to South America.

I don’t know how I feel about this book but it does give a sense of how an SS officer moved through the ranks, and lived through World War 2. It showed me how weak the Vatican was in standing up to Hitler. It also revealed more about the euthanasia program, the killing of cripples and mentally handicapped people, as a ‘test’ for full-blown death camps.

Some have criticized this book for not exploring the death camps in greater detail but that isn’t the focus of this book. This book is focused on one man and his conscience. For more about the gruesome concentration camp you should certainly read KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann*.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #39 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Deadwood by Pete Dexter

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 17:33:24 +0800

The adventures of Wild Bill Hickcock and his friend Charlie Utter as they ‘settle’ in the town of Deadwood. You get to meet all the weird, and wonderful people who live in Deadwood. To me, it feels like an approximation what it must’ve felt like to live in a frontier town in the wild west.

This is not your ‘typical’ western. There are no good guys, or bad guys. There are just people who do good and bad things. Everyone has an agenda and have their own tribes. There are the miners, ‘upstairs’ girls, townsfolk, cowboys, and Chinese immigrants. These characters get into seemingly extreme situations but it all comes together the way this is written. The author has a knack for making even the most horrific, or weird situation feel ‘authentic’, and funny. This is a funny book if you like a bit of dark comedy with a lot of swearing.

Deadwood seems to have inspired the TV show Deadwood but I don’t see any attribution to this fact on the Deadwood (TV show) Wikipedia page which seems odd. Reading the plot of Deadwood (TV show) reminds me an awful lot of the book. I’m not sure how they got away with that.

This book is a great Western that has some dark themes. There is prostitution, drinking, swearing, rape, murder, gun fights, dog fights, and more! This isn’t for everyone but this is the freshest, most interesting character driven Western book I’ve ever read. I would even rate this more exciting than some Western movies I’ve seen. I am highly motivated to watch Deadwood (TV show) now as it feels the show’s creator took many cues for the TV show from this book.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #37 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 07:56:37 +0800

I’ll be honest, I only found this book after the war in the Ukraine started. I am quite ignorant of the history of this place other than knowing that different ‘barbarian’ tribes moved through it at different times in world history. I started reading this to learn more about the history of Ukraine and try to process this war that is going on.

The book begins in the early, early history of Ukraine and goes all the way up to 2014 with the first invasion of Ukraine by Russia. There are maps in the book but not nearly detailed enough to follow along with the writer as he talks about the different rivers in the area. I am so ignorant of the geography of the area I found myself going to the internet frequently to look at more detailed maps. Do you know the main river in Ukraine? I do now - Dnieper.

Along with rivers as designations of areas in Ukraine, he also refers to the left and right bank of the Dnieper. As I understood it from context while reading, the right bank is actually the West side of the river, while the left bank is the East side. I guess this makes sense because it’s based on looking in the direction of water flow.

So what did I learn about Ukraine? They have a very, very, very, complicated history. There has been many wars, and long running armed conflicts on their soil. Cossacks. Kievan Rus. Barbarian tribes. Russia. Ukraine is located in an area that is a corridor between the Eastern and Western world. It is the area that silk road went through. It is the area through which the Huns went through to get to Europe. Due to the accident of geography, it has been a hotly contested area by many warlords, rulers, and kings.

Along with all this war, it has been attached and cut off from Russia a few different times in its long history. That is to say they share many similarities in language, customs, and culture with Russia but they are a distinct people. It is like China and Taiwan in a way, though China (CCP) has never, every ruled, or set foot on Taiwan.

It was a good read, but very exhausting to read. My unfamiliarity with the area, the rivers, and the names made it slow going for me. The author is obviously very pro-Ukrainian and that shines through in certain points, especially the later part of the book about more events, but that doesn’t detract from the good historical document he has made - a history of Ukraine separate from Russia or any other nearby empires.

If you are being ground down by the relentless media coverage of the war in Ukraine, maybe reading about long ago wars in Ukraine might be more relaxing. It could help put the current conflict in perspective.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #36 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 21:56:25 +0800

A story about the inhabitants of a few blocks called cannery row, due to it being so close to the fish cannery. These people are colorful characters. You will meet Dora, the proprietor of a brothel masquerading as a restaurant. There is Lee Chong the Chinese man running the corner grocery store. There is Doc, the local ‘scientist’ who collects sea creatures to sell. There are also a few single, young men, like Mack, who live day to day as vagrants doing odd jobs here and there and enjoying their whiskey. There are a few others, too.

The book is set in Monterey, California in the late 1930s. It’s a great book showing how a micro community works. They all help each other, but are also caught up in their own lives.

I like Steinbeck’s writing. It feels real. Reading this reminded me of living in my small little town where everybody knew everybody and invariably got into each others business.

This was a wonderful little book. I enjoyed the hilarious characters who were driven by their different agendas. Now I’m really interested to read The Grapes of Wrath about the time period before this book, the Great Depression.

I found this gem tucked away on my bookshelf. I don’t remember how I came into possession of it. Let this be a lesson to other book nerds out there, just grab a book off the shelf and read it. You may discover some hidden treasure that’s been sitting under your nose this whole time!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #35 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Girl From the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 20:54:11 +0800

A beautiful story about having the courage to be who you are no matter what others think about you. A girl who is a lesbian gets befriended by a selkie (make bold). They have a nice romantic relationship for a while until the selkie tries to complete her mission.

I like how Norse/Celtic mythological creature of the selkie is woven into this tale of young love. I can’t speak to how authentic this L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ story feels to someone from that tribe, but for me it was a sweet story with cute graphics. I think it has a positive message about not trying to hide how you are from your friends, if they’re really your friends, they’ll understand. I like the way the author illustrates the way the friends text each other. It’s something someone of my generation or younger understands instantly.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #34 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

Mon, 11 Apr 2022 20:53:31 +0800

What did I just read? These short stories range from gross to disturbing. They are a mix of fables, horror, and fantasy. They were unsettling, but a breath of fresh air. I needed something unexpected like this right now. I am rarely disapointed by Korean translated fiction and this one just surprised the heck out of me. This is a newer author that I will have to keep an eye out for. I am happy to see that she has just made the shortlist for the Man Booker International 2022 prize! I hope she wins!

Below are my thoughts about each story. Stop reading now if you don’t want spoilers! You have been warned.

The Head - A ho-hum story that doesn’t get unsettling until the end.
The Embodiment - A virgin pregnant woman tries to find a man to help take care of her baby. Feels like a comment on Korean culture where woman have to get married before it’s too late and the become old maids.
Cursed Bunny - A story of a cursed object and the destruction it reaps on the target and the maker of this object.
Frozen Finger - This is a trippy story about dying. Did the woman die? Is she dying? I am still trying to figure out this one. I think I need to re-read it.s
Snare - A disturbing sort of Eastern european-esque fable about greed. It starts innocently enough, like the story of the goose who lays the golden egg, but gets extreme very quickly. This has a typical Korean movie ending, they all die and have a horrible life at the end. I rarely find Korean movies/books where they all live happily ever after.
Goodbye, My Love - A comment on our throwaway culture and when tech decides to throw us away. This is the only sci-fi one in this book.
Scars - Another one that feels like a fable. A boy is sacrified to a beast that slowly changes him. Eventually he escapes and finds more monsters outside of his cave. When he finally ‘wins’, he actually loses.
Home Sweet Home - This one was great. It is 100% Korean - expensive house prices and trying to keep your head above water! It snuck on me and was deeply satisfing at the end. The revenge of this woman against those that wronged her is great. She has won…but at what cost? She seems ok with the tradeoff in the end.
Rule of the Winds and Sands - Feels like a pretty regular fairy tale. This one was the least gruesome and disturbing of the lot. This is probably the only one that is ‘clean’ enough to read to your children.
Reunion - Feels somewhat autobiographical as it’s about a young asian woman doing a project in Poland. The author has a PhD in Slavic literature.

It feels she got lots of inspiration for some of these short stories from European fairy tales. I have heard the original forms of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for example, are quite gruesome - a granny who eats children? a wolf who eats Little Red riding hood? These short stories seem like fairy tales when you first read them until they take a twist and become horror, or just gross.

#horror, short story, fable, supernatural, ghost

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #33 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 21:49:35 +0800

A powerful book about Janie Crawford, a Black woman trying to live the way she wants to live in 1930s America. We are taken through her life and her 3 marriages and see her as she grows, changes, and adapts with age and experience.

This uses the Black vernacular of the time. It’s a bit hard to get into at first but once you crack the code your mind just reads it automatically. The book is full of beautiful prose about life, and love. Not a lot may happen in the whole book but Janie changes a lot in her circumstance, and her being.

From what I’ve read about this book, it is very important in black studies. I can’t expound a lot on that here, but I don’t think you have to be studying this book in university to enjoy it. There is a timelessness encapsulated in this book about just living, and trying to figure out your life that anyone - white, black, man or woman can identify with.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #32 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan by Ivan Morris

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 06:32:53 +0800

A fascinating book that looks at heroes from Japanese culture. They are mostly tragic stories of men fighting for something they believe in eventhough they face insurmountable odds and certain death. There is a thin line between bravery and stupidity, but men who sincerely stick to a cause they believe in and bravely fight until the end are celebrated as heroes in Japanese culture. Though I wonder how the extremely difficult loss of WW2 and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has had an effect on these types of heroes in the national psyche in the post-war period to the present day.

The historical figures written about:

Yamato Takeru
Yorozu
Arima no Miko
Sugawara no Michizane
Minamoto no Yoshitsune
Kusunoki Masashige
Amakusa Shirō
Ōshio Heihachirō
Saigō Takamori
The kamikaze fighters of World War II

The story of Saigo Takamori is an especially good chapter. You may have seen the movie “The Last Samurai” which is inspired by the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori. So yes, Saigo Takamori is what is considered the last samurai.

The final chapter looks at kamakaze fighters in World War 2. After reading about the other stories of venerated heroes who died for what they believed in, it makes kamakaze fighters seem less ‘irrational’. If you had been brought up to worship these types of heroes, and then are convinced by your government that you are in such a heroic stuggle - why not give your life for the motherland and live on as a hero in the memory of your people?

I heard about this book while listening to the epic podcast Supernova in the East by Dan Carlin. That podcast was incredible and really helped me understand the World War 2 in the Pacific much better.

Reading this book has made me realize I don’t know much about Japanese history prior to World War 2. I now want to read more books about the time of Shoguns, and watch some samurai movies!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #30 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Europa by Han Kang

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 06:32:24 +0800

(Yeoyu - new voices Korea #3)

You know when you are going to read a story by Han Kang it will be weird, and it will haunt your dreams. She was the author behind the strange book The Vegetarian and the harrowing tall of Human Acts.

In this short story, she introduces us to two friends. They have an unusual relationship. The narrator is sort of obsessed with this girl In-ah but they still maintain a close relationship as just friends. There is some other odd stuff in their relationship but I’ll let you discover it when you read this. It’s a very short book and it ended much faster than I wanted it to. It was just starting to get interesting when it finished. I suppose that is the nature of novellas.

This book is part of the Yeoyu series of Korean translated chap books. They are just lovely. Beautiful covers. Short novellas you can devour in one sitting at a nice coffeshop. It also exposes you to a range of different authors you might not have been familiar with with. As it happens, I am familiar with this author, Han Kang, and would heartily suggest you check out her novels.

Rating: ★★★

Book #29 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Migrante by J.W. Henley

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 21:37:39 +0800

I was lucky to find this book in pristine condition at the used bookstore. It is even signed by the author!

This is the story of a Filipino man, Rizal, who comes to Taiwan to work. He was hoping to find a decent job, work hard, and send the extra money he made home, but working as a migrant in Taiwan was nothing like what he expected. He has difficulties in his fishing job, so he ran away. Then, he tries a job in a factory before an accident forces his to go back home. He decides to come back to Taiwan again as a migrant because what other choice does he have? There are no economic opportunities for him in Manila.

“They’ll take anybody. All you have to do is sign and you’re hired. It pays more than anything around here. You even make enough to send some home every month. All that just for being a fisherman. Doesn’t it sound - "

“Too good to be true, iho?”

As the author states in the foreword, this isn’t his story to tell, but until it is told by the workers themselves, this will have to do. He interviewed many migrant workers while writing this so it is a fictional story, but it will ring true for many reading it. I hope more Taiwanese will see these migrant workers as humans deserving of the same labour protections, and respect as any other worker in Taiwan. The broker system used is rife with corruption and abuse.

It’s a very sad book to read. The way the non-white foreigners are treated in Taiwan is deplorable. I have visited the three locations that are key to this book (Suao, Zhongli, and Zhubei), so I have the visuals in my head of the conditions they live and work in. I remember once visiting Su’ao and walking by the boats filled with workers just sitting there in the heat, with their laundry hanging to dry off the boats. They were a sorry sight to see. I felt so much pity for them. Their vacant stares as I, a privileged white foreigner, enjoyed a weekend with my family. I felt terrible. It’s hard not to think of these poor lads on the boats as we enjoy our super cheap seafood in Taiwan.

This place - it had seeped into his body. Infected him with something dark and mean. That think was slowly eating his soul, stealing away all those things he once was. Before long, he knew, everything he had been would be gone. He would be just another man. Not a man. A migrante, like the millions shipped like cargo from one place to another. A thing. A strong back useful only so long as he was able to stand and swing a hammer or haul up nets full of fish or sweep a floor or clean a bathroom or climb up a set of scaffolding or… And when it would all be done, when his back was broken, when his hands were gnarled and useless., mind and body numb, he would be thrown away . Just another piece of garbage, slapping up against the steps in Navotas, like the doll - the pink plastic torso bobbing in a gasoline rainbow.

The author uses a heavy hand at points to drive the points home, but it is only to be expected in this kind of book. If reading this book can make a person feel a bit more empathy for what these workers go through, then it has achieved its purpose I think.

Another excellent book from Camphor Press! Go check it out.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #26 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Killing the Second Dog by Marek Hłasko

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 21:19:00 +0800

This book was very sad but hits you in the gut. In Israel, two Polish refugees have made it their careers to swindle lonely, middle-aged American women out of money. One man, Robert, is the mastermind of the scheme. The other, Jacob, is the actor who acts out the dialogue to con the women. Jacob is tiring of this game and is just going through the motions as both men try to keep their heads above water.

This book primarily moves the plot along through the dialogue. It’s a dark and little novel about desperate men doing what they need to do to survive. It’s a great little book, but be warned…the dog does die in the end.

But I don’t like the light. I like the darkness, which frees us from our faces and the shadows we cast.

There are many scenes that will stay with me from this book. There are some vivid moments in this book. You can feel the despair of the ‘actor’ who is tricking the mark. It’s hard not to think that the character who tires of this charade is not partly auto-biographical.

I’m not sure why Hlasko isn’t more well-known. He has written some great little novels. They are dark, but deep.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #25 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 21:02:13 +0800

Stevens, a butler reminisces about his past glories serving under a dignified lord. Now, he works for an American man, Mr. Farraday, who got him along with the grand house. With a diminished staff, the butler struggles to maintain the house, so he sets out on a road trip to meet a former coworker, Ms. Kenton.

From the description above you can tell this isn’t an action thriller. This book moves along slowly with the butler letting us listen in to his thoughts and remembrances as he embarks on his quest to get another good worker for the house, but is it more than that? There are hints that he had feelings for Ms. Kenton but didn’t or wouldn’t act upon them for some twisted notions of propriety or ‘dignity’.

It is a situation we have all found ourselves in, missed opportunities, regret for words left unsaid. It leads the reader to think of their own missteps in life. Though, I like to think that every action I have made up to this point, even the things I haven’t done, have led me to the life I have today. Am I disappointed with my life today? No, but it’s a human notion to wonder about paths not taken. It’s the what ifs that bedevil our mind at times. This is why I’m firmly of the belief it is better to try everything and everything, so I will only have regrets about actions taken, not those not taken. It led to some exciting times in my 20s which I don’t regret one bit. Now, nearing the end of my 30s, I am far more cautious, an ailment that afflicts people as they age.

Perhaps, then, there is something to his advise that I should cease looking back so much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day.

Kazuo Ishiguro is quite an incredible author. He has such range in his work. Of the three books I’ve read by him, they are all almost wholly different - The Buried Giant, Klara and the Sun, Never Let Me Go, and The Remains of the Day. Usually authors have their own specific genre and style, but Ishiguro finds a way to completely surprise me when I open every one of his books.

‘I mean, all this we’ve been talking about. Treaties and boundaries and reparations and occupations. But Mother Nature just carries on her own sweet way. Funny to think of it like that, don’t you think? ‘Yes, indeed it is, sir.’ ‘I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if the Almighty had creates us all as - well - as sort of plants. You know, firmly embedded in the soil. Then none of this rot about wars and boundaries would have come up in the first place.’

Well said!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #24 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Turned on the West by Catherine Belton

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 19:30:59 +0800

NOTE: It’s difficult to read a book like this while a Russia is in the midst of an invasion of Ukraine. I’ll try to keep this review about the book as much as I can.

What I learned from this book?

Russia’s KGB did not disband but kept their connections to people and money active during the fall of the Soviet Union
KGB men like Putin still operating schemes they were brought up on when they were working to subvert the west from behind the Iron Curtain
example of a scheme they run: selling Russian commodities like oil under market value to a KGB/FSB controlled country abroad, the company sells the commodities on the open market and pockets the difference
The West, especially the UK has profited immensely from all the Black Cash swirling around Russia
Trump has been (willingly) used by Russia for a long time with many sweet deals of free cash for slapping his name on buildings are rarely completely built
Putin uses the legal system as a stick to steal businesses from businessmen who don’t follow his orders
whole state of Russia is operated like a drug cartel, or gang - the boss controls it all
Putin is obsessed with putting the pieces together of the broken Soviet Union

This was a deep labyrinth of a book. It is very well researched but it is dense. Parts of some chapters sort of overlap when she’s telling another part of story but needs context from another part of the story she’s already covered.

Here are many, many quotes that stood out to me:

‘Many of the decisions he makes are based on his convictions of how the world is run. The subject of patriotism - he believes this sincerely. When he says the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy, he believes this sincerely… He just has such values.’ – Pugachev

For Putin and his supporters it [election of Yushchenko] was a devastating defeat that many have not forgotten to this day. The fallout from what became known as the ‘Orange Revolution’ was so great, the blow to the Kremlin’s plans so devastating, that…Putin tried to resign.

Putin seems to be stuck in a Cold War mentality of East vs. West. He seems to be driven to create a legacy for himself as the man who ‘made Russia great again’. As a person living in Taiwan, this is slightly alarming because we live next door to another madman who wants to reclaim ‘lost territory’.

…the kleptocracy of the Putin era was aimed at something more than just filling the pockets of the president’s friends. What emerged as a result of the KGB takeover of the economy - and the country’s political and legal system - was a regime in which the billions of dollars at Putin’s cronies' disposal were to be actively used to undermine and corrupt the institutions and democracies of the West.

Anatoly Sobchak, upon hearing that Putin was chosen as Yeltsin’s successor… ‘Sergei, this is the biggest mistake of your life. He comes from a tainted circle. A komitetchik cannot change. You don’t understand who Putin is.’

Putin ‘had a sacred mission to save the country’, one person close to Goutchkov said.

…to Western eyes, the rest of the nation’s business still appeared to be largely independent. Yeltsin-era tycoons like Abramovich were seen as symbols of modernizing, pro-Western forces in the Russian economy. Most importantly, it seemed, for once the economy was booming, and hopes grew that an emerging middle class would one day demand a greater say in the political process.

We are still waiting for that in Russia and China. The West’s naivety about this is maddening. I think they remain deliberately ignorant so they can profit off these nations while turning a blind eye to corruption and human rights abuses (examples: China - Xinjiang, Taiwan, HK / Russia - Ukrain, Crimea, Georgia, Chechnya / Israel - Palestine etc, etc).

There were the days of plenty and stability. And although the oil-price surge driving it was entirely unconnected to him, these were the days when Putin’s godlike status as the tsar who saved Russia was established. It was part of an unwritten pact that the people of Russia seemed to have made with their president. They chose not to notice the increasing state corruption, the growing arbitrary power of the FSB and all branches of law enforcement over businesses large and small. They didn’t care about the clampdown on media freedom as long as their incomes were growing, as long as there was finally stability.

This is the same balance that China has to strike. I hope the economic situation in Russia due to sanctions is a huge warning to China of the repercussions they will face if they try to take Taiwan by force.

The KGB had learned well the lessons of the Soviet past. Instead of an overbearing state, capitalism had become an instrument that allowed them to act as they wanted. Indeed, they believed that, just as Geneva associate of Jean Goutchkov had cynically put it, people were content if they had ‘a fridge, a TV, a house, children, a care For the rest, more or less, you don’t care, as long as your material situation isn’t impacted’

These economic sanctions currently in place in Russia due to the war will be a bit test of what will a population do to resist when all their ‘nice things’ are taken away. Will they lash out against their government? or just take it? Right now, all eyes are on Homo Sovieticus right now.

One of the reasons Russian companies were heading to London [LSE] in droves was that the standards required for listing there were far less stringent than those in New York [NYSE]. In the US, regulations required the chief executives and finance directors of companies seeking a stock exchange to sign off on the accuracy of the financial accounts. If anything turned out to be not true or misleading, it was treated as a criminal offense. ‘No Russian company was ready for this. We needed another five years to clean up, maybe more,’ said Dmitry Gololobov

Will the London Stock Exchange clean up its act? or is the sweet taste of money too addictive? These are some of the hard questions the Western world needs to ask itself.

‘Putin likes people like Abravomovich and Yumashev to travel the world and tell people he’s not such a crocodile,’ said Alexander Temerko

‘Western leaders must take a realistic and long-term view of the implications of appeasing the Russians on such issues of fundamental human rights and the rule of law,’ wrote Robert Amsterdam .. ‘If not, those presently in power in Russia will take Western double-standards as a license for impunity. To deny, dismiss or discount the gravity of the consequences is to turn a blind eye to the lessons of history.’

Replace the word Russia with China/North Korea/Iran in the above quote. They are closely watching the war in Ukraine to see how the West reacts, or doesn’t. Just as toddlers push their parents to see what they can get away with until they are punished, these superpowers are looking for the boundaries . Where are the red-lines of the Western world?

…they came from a world where the Cold War had never really ended, where the only thing that mattered was restoring Russia’s geopolitical might. Theirs was a world in which, from the start of Russia’s transition to the market, factions of the KGB had seen capitalism as a tool for one day getting even with the West, a world in which Putin believed he could buy anyone. For Putin’s people, the encroachment of the West, through NATO, even closer to Russia’s borders was an existential threat, while the democracy movements that overturned pro-Russian governments in Ukraine and Georgia were seen as US-funded revolutions, not as an expression of the people’s free will.

This is now being played out in the ‘special police operation’ in the Ukraine. If the West wasn’t so busy getting rich of Russia, they might’ve seen the warning signs.

One senior Russian government official told the Financial Times that day that if Ukraine continued on a Western tilt, Russia was ready to go to war over Crimea to protect its military base there and the ethnic Russian population: ‘We will not allow Europe and the US to take Ukraine from us,’ a foreign policy official said. ‘They think Russia is still as weak as in the early nineties, but we are not.’

The former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski had written in 1996 that with Ukraine Russia was a great power, but without it, it was not: ‘This was not a new idea,’ said Yakunin. ‘More than forty years ago, when the US developed plans for the destruction of the Soviet Union, CIA documents said it should be accompanied by the separation of Ukraine from Russia.

When the Soviet Union collapsed and Crimea wound up in a different country, ‘Russia felt that it had not just been robbed, it had been pillaged,; Putin told the officials gathered that day. ‘Millions of Russians went to bed in one country and woke up across a border; in one moment they became minorities in former Soviet republics … But then Russia just dropped its head and swallowed the shame.’

Putin is petty as fuck and still nursing a grudge from 1990. Get over it dude.

‘When he came to power, he started out saying he was no more than the hired manager. But then he became the controlling shareholder of all of Russia. First they gave him a stake and then he took control. It’s a shareholder company of the closed type.’ ‘Putin is the tsar, the emperor of all the lands,’ agreed another tycoon.

Putin’s former economic adviser Andrei Illarionov: ‘People in the West think Putin is irrational or crazy. In fact, he’s very rational according to his own logic, and very well-prepared.’

On Russian black cash:

Yury Shvets, the former senior KGB officer stationed in Washington was blunt about the origins of it all: ‘Wide-scale infiltration of the Western financial system by Russian organized crime started right on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union …’

The KGB and others made grabs for money and power as the Soviet Union quickly disintegrated.

… Russia has developed a weapon more powerful than anything it has ever possessed before: ‘You can’t use nuclear weapons every day, but you can use this black cash every day. It can be deployed to dismantle the Western system from the inside’.

The weakness of the Western capitalist system, in which money ultimately outweighed all other considerations, left it wide open for the Kremlin to manipulate.

… Putin’s former mentor Anatoly Sobchak, who on hearing that Putin was to be appointed prime minister said, ‘Don’t frighten me!’

Those who believed they were working to introduce a free market had underestimated the enduring power of the security men. ‘This is the tragedy of the twentieth-century Russia,’ said Pugachev. ‘The revolution was never complete.’ From the beginning the security men had been laying down the roots for revanche. But from the beginning, it seems, they’d been doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

If you want to understand how we got to the Ukraine war from the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, please read this book. I hope the West will close the doors of capitalism to bad actors like the Russian state, clean up the regulations in financial markets, and save the people of Ukraine. We need to learn lessons from this conflict for if, or when, China decides to test the resolve of the Western world.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #23 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie & John Geiger

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 17:43:04 +0800

I have always had a fascination with the age of sail and the brave sailors who were exploring the ‘unknown’ parts of the world in their wooden boats. I was first exposed to Franklin’s lost expedition when reading “The Terror” by Dan Simmons. Simmons turns it into a sort of historical gothic horror, adventure story. Since we know so little about the details of the expedition, it has excited the imaginations of the public since it was lost in 1845. A few weeks ago, I read another book about a voyage of exploration that ran into serious difficulties, Madhouse at the End of the Earth. Soon after, I came across the excellent TV series, “The Terror”. It is based on the novel of the same name that I read years ago.

This got me thinking about the real Franklin expedition and how I should read up on it more.

This book is an indepth exhumation of the 3 graves at Beechey Island (1984-1986). This is where the now famous (dead) sailor, Torrington, is buried. The researched also traced the route of a few places where parts of bodies had been found. The book is filled with detailed photographs of the bodies.

The book begins with a great summary of the expedition before going into the recent day studies of the bodies. I was expecting it would be wholly about the whole expedition, but I was wrong. I will probably read “Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time” soon to see how that book approaches this fascinating topic.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #22 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Eighth Day of the Week by Marek Hłasko

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 20:38:12 +0800

This was a difficult book to find. I bought a copy from my local bookstore, Goodman Books. I am big on supporting local bookstores when I can. I dig through their stacks and look for hidden pearls like this one: translated fiction, difficult to find an eBook copy, and unique story.

A girl, Agnieszka, agrees to sleep with her boyfriend Piotr as long as he can find them “four walls”. They live in post-WW2 Communist Poland. Piotr has just gotten out of prison. Agnieszka lives with her alcoholic brother, her father, and her invalid mother. They also have a mechanic living with them in their tiny apartment. The people of Poland are filled with hoplessness in their Soviet occupied country. They seek small joys in drink, sex, or fishing.

‘Little obscenities are spoken loudly,’ she thought, deftly stepping over a drunk, Big ones are whispered. As for the truth, one doesn’t say it at all. Who can tell whether each truth is not at bottom the greatest obscenity at all?'

Some of the slang and street talk must lose some of its potency after being translated but it’s still a powerful book about the despair of living as a young person in Communist Poland.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #21 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 18:05:29 +0800

I feel sort of tricked into reading this book. It was not at all what I was expecting. The cover looks like space with a rocket ship on it but it’s actually a fish. This isn’t to say I completely disliked this book, but it was strange and all over the place.

A transexaual runaway with a gift for the violin, gets taken under the wing of a superstar teacher. The teacher is actually under contract to deliver souls to Hell. Along the way, they become acquainted with aliens who have run away from their home. The aliens are now running a donut shop and building a star gate.

Yeah. I told you it was weird. It tries to make all these pieces together while also hitting on the points of “a trans person is a person”, about using correct pronouns, and how it feels to be a trans person. The story wasn’t all that successful, but it did succeed at making me feel a bit of what it’s like being a trans person in a heterosexual world. I undestand the purpose of this book, and I am sympathetic to it’s purpose - but I found it just didn’t really work for me.

I enjoyed the bits about repairing violins, and about some of the musical pieces a lot. I’m listening to Bartok’s Violin Solo as I write this review :D

Rating: ★★

Book #20 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 08:16:32 +0800

This book was a mixed bag. I like maps, and crime but this didn’t work too well as a book for me. This is the story of Smiley Forbes III, the rare map dealer, who was caught stealing many, many maps. It details his career as an art dealer, promininent maps he’s bought and sold, and then his downfall.

The flow of the book is all wrong. He goes into some of the narrative of Smiley’s life and then when he talks about a map Smiley bought or sold he goes off on a 5 page tangent about the map. I love arcane map knowledge but it got in the way of the story here. I feel the author couldn’t decide if he was writing a crime/biography or a story about maps.

At times, it is a bit uncomfortable how the author is sort of in awe of Smiley’s skill for deception, and stealing maps. I can’t really stomach that. Thieves that destroy, and try to profit off of irreplacable historical artifacts are the lowest of the low. We should behead them and hang them outside libraries as a warning to other would-be thieves. What kind of scum destroys, steals, or defaces humanities cultural heritage?

The only benefit of reading this book was looking up the map names on the internet to gaze in wonder at some of these beautiful, and historically important maps.

Now that I’ve finished this very disapointing book, I am yearning to read a really good book about maps. The hunt is on!

Rating: ★★

Book #19 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The World in a Grain The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization by Vince Beiser

Sat, 26 Feb 2022 08:19:53 +0800

A passionate treatise on something all of us rarely think about…sand. Every chapter is a detailed history, and explanation how sand makes up everything in our modern world from glass, roads, concrete, and even semiconductors. The author is very passionate but sometimes goes off on tangents. It’s a light, interesting non-fiction book. It’s one of those books that is like a well written textbook; doesn’t stir the soul, but teaches you some interesting things.

I’m torn about how I feel about this book. I learned so much, and some of the chapters were so intriguing. Some of the chapters felt like he was just trying to stretch the book out, or he started going off on a tangent about the future of the earth without sand. That topic, the earth without sand, is an important topic but that is almost another standalone book itself. The problem with this book is that it is such a large topic, it’s hard to make it flow well. He often tries to cram in too many angles into some chapters, as previously mentioned. I did really enjoy the chapters on semiconductors and island building in the UAE.

Rating: ★★★ (I liked it.)

Book #18 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Promise by Damon Galgut

Sat, 26 Feb 2022 08:19:35 +0800

This book pulls no punches. This is an unvarnished account of a dysfunctional, White South African family family. This isn’t Friends, or Full House. This family is at each other’s throats and the main impetus of the conflict is the family farm. From what I gather, a family homestead with a few Black servants living there was a typical South African living situation in 1980s Cape Town. This story takes place during the tumultuous time in South Africa from 1986 until 2018. The characters all come together in the book 4 times for 4 different funerals. The title of the story refers to a promise made to the Black housekeeper who has lived with, and taken care of the family for generations. She lives in a smaller house on the farm. At each funeral, there is conflict about this promise made and some of the family try to pressure them to honor it.

The characters in this novel are petty. They are selfish. They all have their own agendas. They are all human. Of all the characters, it felt like there was only one ‘good’ character, even though I identified with the other characters. We can see a bit of ourselves in all these characters, no matter how distasteful that might be.

I am still thinking about this book after finishing it over a week ago. It has powerful imagery in it. It is also a very typical family situation, what family isn’t trying to inherit bigger slices of the family property when there is a death in the family (or maybe that’s just Greek families?). We all have this greedy gene in our souls.

I loved reading this book and am thankful a friend of mine bought it, and lent it to me. A note for readers, there are only 4 chapters in this book, and they are long. 4 funerals = 4 chapters. The perspective and thoughts of the characters float from character to character so you might get a bit lost if you put this down in the middle of a chapter. Myself, I read each chapter in one sitting because I didn’t like to leave a chapter in the middle of it.

I don’t often think much of Booker Prize winners as I’m more excited about the International Booker Prize but this was definitely a worthy winner.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #17 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 17:53:59 +0800

A true story of a polar expedition in 1897 that explored Antarctica. They made some amazing scientific discoveries, and hit many ‘firsts’. One of them, unfortunately, was the first polar expedition to spend a winter locked in the ice of Antarctica. There were many interesting characters on this expedition and we have first-hand accounts from them in journals, and photos. To spoil the ending, they mostly all make it but it didn’t feel like they would.

Sailing expeditions make my heart pump and this book was a great adventure! I sometimes wish I was an explorer on one of these journeys. I was working on a huge cruise ship for a time, and the feeling of being in the middle of the ocean is incredible. You are away from civilization. There is no cell phone service. I can imagine it must’ve felt even more incredible in the 1890s. Radio hadn’t even been invented yet. The age of sail was mostly over, but the Belgica was a ship with sails and a coal steam engine. These men signed up to travel half-way across the world to a place that they didn’t even have an accurate map for. They were literally going to ‘uncharted territory’. That stirs a great excitement in my heart, as I imagine it did in theirs.

The book moves along at a nice pace all the way from the inception of this expedition by de Gerlache. It chronicles their tribulations along the way and gives you direct quotes from different crew mates, from their journals, along with the narrative of where they went and what they did. This is an incredible story of survival under very difficult conditions. These are men trapped in a boat with no TV, radio, or phone for at least 365 days in the ice. It’s a physiological test as much as a physical test.

In the beginning of this review, I told you I wish I was on one of these expeditions…but not this one; being trapped on the ice and being at the mercy of the shifting ice floes must’ve been a terrifying experience. At any moment, your ship could be crushed by ice and you would drown or freeze to death. If hell is all fire, and pain…the winter in Antarctica must be the anti-hell. No animals. No other humans. Just white, grey, desolate ice as far as the eye can see.

One of the people in the expedition, the physician, was also an avid photographer. The author included many of his photographs in the back of the book. At different points throughout this book, I also checked the internet for more photos of this journey and more detailed maps of where they went. There are many maps at the start of the book, but it’s hard to flip back and forth all the time. Reading books like this, I learn geography as well as history!

If you enjoy these sorts of arctic tales of survival, I heartily enjoyed “The Terror” by Dan Simmons. It is a fictional tale of the doomed 1845 Sir John Franklin Northwest Passage expedition. Not a lot is known about that expedition, so he fills in the blanks with his imagination. Maybe there was something out there on the ice? How did the 150+ crew all die? It is a page-turning blend of artic adventure and gothic horror. (What a genre eh?)

Now that I’ve whetted my appetite for adventure with this book, I am seeking a good book to read about Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition. These two books look like great candidates:

Frozen in Time: Unlocking the Secrets of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie, John Geiger
Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time by Michael Palin

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #16 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Making Offsite Yunohost Backups using Rest-Server, Restic & Wireguard

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:51:35 +0800

Making Offsite Yunohost Backups using Rest-Server, Restic & Wireguard

If you only have local backups, you might be unprotected if the backups are physically compromised by fire, flood, or earthquake. It is prudent to have offsite backups.

Aim

To make daily offsite backups with Restic from Computer A to Computer B running a Rest-server. The computers will be connected through Wireguard*.

Why Wireguard? Because it is much easier than trying to setup firewalls, port forwarding, and HTTPS certificates on Computer B.

Before You Begin

Basic knowledge of Restic
Yunohost server with a working Wireguard installation (Computer A)
Extra computer (Computer B)
Read my tutorial on making Daily Automated (local) Restic Backups.

My Setup

Computer A
- Yunohost, Debian 10 system
- located at my home
- Wireguard IP 10.10.10.0
- 3 TB exernal RAID1 for local backups
Computer B
- Debian 11 system
- located at my wife’s workplace
- Wireguard IP 10.10.10.1
- running rest-server via Docker
- 3 TB external RAID1 for backups

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Setup Wireguard

Computer A: Is Wireguard working with other devices? Yes? Please continue.
Prepare Computer B
- Install Debian 11
- Install Wireguard
Computer A: Create a Wireguard profile
- Go to the web address you installed Wireguard on, create a profile
- Download the wg0.conf file

Paste wg0.conf contents into the /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf

# will look sort of like this
[Interface]
Address = 10.10.10.1/32,fd42::1/32
PrivateKey = wAspKTj43EE3NZrCfJt4BxdllaHNVnM6Wd+VDsMtqE0=
DNS = 1.1.1.1

[Peer]
PublicKey = PUBLIC_KEY_HERE
PresharedKey = PRESHAREDKEY_HERE
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0
Endpoint = 49.159.85.76:8095
PersistentKeepalive = 15```

Connect Computer B to Computer A to test the Wireguard connection
- Run wg-quick up wg0
- On Computer B run sudo wg does Computer B (10.10.10.1) make a handshake with Computer A (10.10.10.0)? If not, troubleshoot this.

$ sudo wg
interface: wg0
public key: PUBLIC_KEY_HERE
private key: (hidden)
listening port: 8095

peer: PEER_KEY_HERE
preshared key: (hidden)
endpoint: 155.782.163.111:28759
allowed ips: 10.10.10.1/32
latest handshake: 1 minute, 50 seconds ago #THIS IS GOOD!
transfer: 4.30 GiB received, 30.39 GiB sent

Setup Docker

Install docker on Computer B
1. sudo apt-get install ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release
2. curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
3. echo \ "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \ $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
4. sudo apt-get update
5. sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io

Setup Rest-Server

Install rest-server on Computer B
1. docker pull restic/rest-server:latest
2. docker run -p 8000:8000 -v /my/data:/data --name rest_server restic/rest-server (NOTE: Change /my/data to the location you want the rest-server to store you backups. On my server I pointed it to my USB RAID1 @ /mnt/titan. See example below.)

sudo docker run -d -p 8000:8000 -v /mnt/titan/backup:/data --restart always --name rest_server restic/rest-server

Setup user(s) in Rest-server
- Don’t worry about making a super secure password here. You will only be connecting to this server through Wireguard which is already secure.
- docker exec -it rest_server create_user USERNAME_HERE PASSWORD_HERE
- example: docker exec -it rest_server create_user john john123
- Read more about how you can use rest-server for multiple users at the Github page. You could have your whole family have their own restic repository on your backup server, or even have a shared repository.
Setup Restic repository on Computer B
- If you use my example location, /mnt/titan, see example below.

$ restic init --repo /mnt/titan/backup-repo
enter password for new repository:
enter password again:
created restic repository 085b3c76b9 at /mnt/titan/backup-repo
Please note that knowledge of your password is required to access the repository.
Losing your password means that your data is irrecoverably lost.

Test Your Setup

Do a Backup Test from Computer A to Computer B
- Run this restic command from Computer A.

sudo restic -r rest:http://john:john123@10.10.10.1:8000/backup-repo/ backup /home/john/ --tag home

Example above explained: - This command is using user: john, password: john123 to connect to Computer B at 10.10.10.1 port 8000. It’s making a backup of /home/john/ files to the repository at /mnt/titan/backup-repo/ on Computer B.

Wrapping Up

Automate Your Backups

I recommend automating your backups so you never forget to make a backup. I backup to my offsite rest-server daily.

Setup a bash script with multiple lines like in the test you just did.
Use Cron to run this daily
Setup another script/cronjob to run a prune job once a week, or month. See my example below where I delete snapshots older than 60 days. On my local restic repository, I keep snapshots for 30 days.

restic -r rest:http://john:john123@10.10.10.1:8000/backup-repo/ forget --group-by tags --keep-last 60 --prune

Wireguard Autostart

You need to keep the Wireguard connection active from Computer B to make this all work. Setup up a Wireguard service to auto connect on every reboot.

sudo systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start wg-quick@wg0
Reboot Computer B to make sure this service automatically starts Wireguard again.
You can check the systemd status of this service.systemctl status wg-quick@wg0

Finished!

Congratulations! Your backups are now safe from fire, flood, earthquake, and other physical dangers in your home.

Troubleshooting

Problems? Ask me on the Yunohost Forums.
If you have more Restic/Rest-server questions, the people on the Restic forum are very helpful as well.

Libraries in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 20:36:26 +0800

A history book…about libraries of the ancient world? This should’ve been an instant 5 star read for me, but I found it a bit plodding at times. There are great nuggets of information in here about book selling, how libraries were constructed, and about the transistion from rolls to codices in the ancient world but there wasn’t enough compelling information to keep it interesting the whole way through. There are also lots of question marks where historians don’t really know a lot about certain aspects of libraries though I can hardly fault the author for that though! Eventhough I seem to be lambasting this book as a dull read, I still found parts of it very interesting! I am a lover of all things book related, even large history tomes that others may find a bit dry. For those averse to lenghthy tomes, do not fear; this one comes in at a very brief 145 pages.

If you can find this book in the bargain bin, don’t miss it! I found it for only $145 TWD marked down from $453 TWD myself, so I got very lucky.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #15 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 15:11:45 +0800

I didn’t have great expectations coming into this novel. I was nudged into reading this by someone who said it was better than A Tale of Two Cities. Overall, as a story I agree, though A Tale of Two Cities has the historical context which is another aspect to the interest most people have in it, myself included.

A quick overview of the story for those who haven’t read it: Pip, a boy from a rural part of England is apprenticed to be a blacksmith. He gets word that he has a rich, anonymous benefactor that wants to turn him into a gentleman. Then he learns who the benefactor is and there are complications which lead him to lose almost all his wealth.

This is a great coming of age story. It’s a great tale of how those without money are treated, and then how that quickly changes once people know discover they have Capital. I really enjoyed the part of the book where Pip, the main character, suddenly became wealthy and how people were so nice to him.

This classic tale which was serialized in a magazine he partly owned, All The Year Round. As such, it suffers from the tendency to be overly wordy; while reading, sometimes I just wished Dickens would get to the point. The long, fluffy descriptions are very much a product of the time. I experienced a bit of this fatigue while reading another wordy classic novel published in the same magazine, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Is this a classic worth reading? Yes. Dickens certainly has some colorful characters in this story from the vengeful Miss Havisham, the eccentric John Wemmick, and the kind convict Magwitch. Classics also embody the time they were written so the story is about the wealth gap, and transportation of convicts. While reading this, you will learn a lot about what life was like at that time and how the greatest aspiration a young boy had was to be a gentleman.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #14 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński

Sat, 12 Feb 2022 21:59:53 +0800

Kapuściński was a Polish journalist that made it a habit in his life to visit places in the midst of revolutions, unrest, or political upheaval. In this book he journeys throughout Russia. Russia is a massive country that has often been misunderstood in the West. To call this a travelogue would do it a disservice; Ryzgard had a gift for talking to people and really seeing a place. He could boil down thoughts, attitudes of people, and his experiences into beautiful stories. He interprets a place where others will just describe what is on the surface.

This book isn’t a history book either, although he does go into history of the places he visits. It is a book about the moods, the attitudes, and the experience of Russians and Soviet citizens. It’s about the culture of a place. He uses people he met along the way to illustrate different points and to give context to the historical facts.

I started off by saying this book is about Russia, but let me specify that it is actually also about the areas, and new nations that have sprung up on the periphery of a crumbling empire. He visited Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan by plane and train. He visited the gulags up in Siberia and other parts of Russia, too.

This book is split up into 3 parts: his experience as a youth growing up in Soviet Poland, his journeys in the 60s, and his journeys in 1990-91.

I learned a lot about Russian history reading this book. I learned a lot about Soviet people and their way of life, too. Though this book is now over 25 years old, it is still a great historical time capsule giving a glimpse of what life was like in the Soviet Union, and what it was like living during its breakup in 1991.

This book reminded me a lot of the book Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich. She has a similar style, not of a historian, but rather capturing the ‘oral history’ of a time and place. Secondhand Time is described as “oral history of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new Russia.” If you’re interested in reading Imperium, you would probably be interested in reading Secondhand Time as well.

Here is just one example of the way Kapuscinski writes…

There are two kinds of global maps in the world. One type is disseminated by the National Geographic Society in America, and on it, in the middle, in the central sport, lies the American continent, surrounded by two oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific. The former Soviet Union is cut in half and placed discreetly at both ends of the map so that it wont frighten American children with its immense bulk. The Institute of Geography in Moscow prints and entirely different map. On it, in the middle, in the central spot, lies the former Soviet Union, which is so big that it overwhelms us with its expanse; America, on the other hand, is cut in half and placed discreetly at both ends so that the Russian child will not think: My God! How large this America is!.

These two maps have been shaping two different visions of the world for generations."

He makes great quotes from Eastern European literature that is often inaccesible for English speakers…

The Russian writer Yurii Boriev compared the history of the USSR to a train in motion: The train is speeding into a luminous future. Lenin is at the controls. Suddenly – stop, the tracks come to an end. Lenin calls on the people for additional, Saturday work, tracks are laid down, and the train moves on. Now Stalin is driving it. Again the tracks end. Stalin orders half the conductors and passengers shot, and the rest he forces to lay down new tracks. The train starts again. Khrushchev replaces Stalin, and when the tracks come to an end, he orders that the ones over which the train has already passed be dismantled and laid down before the locomotive. Brezhnev takes Khrushchev’s place. When the tracks end again, Brezhnev decides to pull down the window blinds and rock the cars in such a way that the passengers will think the train is still moving forward. (Yurii Boriev, Staliniad, 1990)

Writing about a gulag in Siberia…

I thought about the terrible uselessness of suffering. Love leaves behind its creation – the next generation coming into the world, the continuation of humanity. But suffering? Such a great part of human experience, the most difficult and painful, passes leaving no trace. If one were to collect the energy of suffering emitted by the millions of people here and transform it into the power of creation, one could turn our planet into a flowering garden.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #13 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 11:39:34 +0800

North Korea may be one of the last places left on Earth that we know very little about. It is a place run by paranoia, fear, and a ruthless dictator.

The novel follows an orphan in North Korea who through his rise and fall in the spectacularly strange place known as the DPRK. In the absense of lots of facts, the author imaginatevely weaves this story of historical fiction/satire from bits of news, interviews with defectors, and his own visits to North Korea.

I have mixed feelings about this book. As a novel, it was exciting to read; the blend of absurd and grotesque kept me turning the pages. When reading the reviews of others, many mention that it won the Pulitzer Prize. That was a shocking to me. It was a great read, but why did it get the Pulitzer? It feels like it got lots of kudos for being set in North Korea and the author having traveled there. Someone also mentioned that it came across as a bit inauthentic. It’s true that author has not lived in North Korea, and is not North Korean but since it is so hard to get any authentic stories from there (for now), I am inclined to give it a pass. The author does mention he hopes one day that North Koreans will be able to tell their own stories.

When reading this, you have to remember that lots of it is satire, humor, and just plain made up. We don’t know lots about North Korea, so an author has to use a lot of creative license in writing a book like this. If you keep that in mind while reading, it is a very interesting book.

Now, if you want to read some truly authentic short stories that were written by a North Korean, and smuggled out of the country at great risk to the author, you should try reading The Accusation.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #11 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Flock of Ba-Hui and Other Stories by Oobmab

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 11:39:11 +0800

I picked up this book from a Camphor Press ebook sale awhile back. They are a great small press that specialize in South East Asian books. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this book, but the cover art intrigued me. I am always up for an adventure, so I thought, what the heck and clicked ‘add to shopping cart’. I have never read an H.P. Lovecraft book, nor ever heard of him but they compare this writing style to him a lot. After reading this book, I am certainly more intrigued about that author, too.

The book starts with a description of how the book was made. They discovered the short stories online in Chinese, and translated them to create this book. The translators crafted an over-arching story to hold the 4 short stories together to make it feel more like a novel.

Each story could stand on its own, but there is certainly a similar theme running throughout all 4 stories. I really enjoyed these weird, spooky stories. It felt like a mix between Indiana Jones, Dan Brown, but in a tense, spookier setting. You felt like you were reading the journal of an explorer who isn’t quite sure what they’ve stumbled upon and by turning each page you are falling deeper, and deeper into the growing mystery.

If you’re up for something strange, yet satisfying, you can pick it up for only a few USD from Camphor Press. You’ll also be supporting a small book press as well.

Also, if you like weird stuff, one of the translators has written a strange one called Party Members which might interest you as well.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #10 in my My 2022 Reading Challenge

Five Preludes & A Fuge by Emily Yae Won

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 22:22:39 +0800

(Yeoyu - new voices Korea #1)

This was a spectacular book! My emotions were swung from one extreme to the next as the story was slowly unwound for me though letters. I enjoyed this novella in an ESLITE tea shop with a wonderful view of Taipei 101 near Sun-Yat Sen MRT. It was a perfect reading experience for me.

I don’t want to give too much away in this book, so I’ll tease you with the publisher’s description of this book.

A young woman delves into the circumstances of her mother’s death ahead of her own marriage, interrogating a woman who witnessed her mother’s death and would later come to play a crucial role in her life.

The letters beautifully tease out the relationship between the two characters. Once it finishes you’re left with tears in your eyes and deeply satisfied how it turned out.

An exploration of the human (in)capacity for (self-)deception and knowledge, the story offers a nuanced portrait of contemporary (Korean) social mores. As with all Cheon’s work to date this beautifully crafted story places women at its core, and explores form and genre (in this case epistolatory) while subtly weaving into the text a deep interrogation of social issues.

This certainly rings true after finishing the book. The book takes lots of turns from the strange beginning and the relationship of the letter writers becomes more clear. I like how the author just gives us little bits of information at a time, and as we learn more, our previous assumptions and expectations are turne don their head. Now go read the book, and don’t forget that box of tissues!

I have also reviewed other books in the Yeoyu - new voices Korea series

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #9 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Old Wrestler by Jeon Sungtae

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 22:05:32 +0800

Yeoyu - new voices Korea #2 - Old Wrestler

An aging hero, a wrestler from Korea, grapples with his unrealiable memory as he’s invited to his hometown for an event. This book was a bit of a disapointment for me considering how great the other books in this series are.

There were parts of the story around the edges that felt like they could be interesting but were never explored. Why is the Korean wrestler living out his retirement in Japan? Who is the General? What kind of wrestling?

This novella didn’t capture my attention or make me feel much for the characters. We don’t know anything about this wrestler, so I only felt pity for the old wrestler as a pathetic old man who is losing his memory. I wish I knew more about the wrestler. Why was he famous? Give me a flashback to his childhood or some of his heroic matches.

Don’t write off the Yeoyu collection if this is the first one you read! The others are way better. The Old Wrestler didn’t work as a novella. It probably needed to be fleshed out as a novel to get interesting.

I do want to give props to the coverart though. It’s a shame one of the weakest stories in the whole series has one of the best covers.

Check out the better books in the Yeoyu series.

Rating: ★★★

Book #8 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

Power & Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 11:30:09 +0800

How can I even describe this book? It has such a massive scope. I felt like I just went on a tour of history. It is a 600+ page book about 1000 years of history. It cannot possibly go into depth about all the events, but he certainly gives a good overview of the important events, movements, and trends in the Middle Ages and why they were important then (and now!).

I knew bits and pieces of this history before reading this book but Dan Jones links it up so well that I really learned a lot. I also learned that there is so much more that I want to learn more about many of these interesting moments in history. I want to learn about van Eyck, whom many say invented oil painting. I want to learn more about the Venice banks and how they were the beginnings of 20th century capitalism. I want to learn more about the Crusades, especially from the perspective of the Muslims. I want to learn more about the Pope wars, and the Antipopes.

An example of how he links up these things is the example with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. This made it more difficult for Western Europe to trade with the East. This pushed the European countries to start exploring for a Western route to the riches of the East. This, of course, led to the colonization of the New World.

So many events from the Middle Ages still reverberate to this present day. As I struggle to come up with examples, I remember from the book that the word algebra comes from the Arabic word ‘al-jabr’. Why do we have this Arabic word in English? Because the Middle East is one of those places that has been hotly contested with it changing hands from the West and the East many times. This is the arcane knowledge I fill my head up with.

The table of contents gives you a good idea of how the Jones' organizes the book. I like the groupings, and how it makes it easy to follow.

PART I: Imperium: c. AD 410- AD 750
- Romans
- Barbarians
- Byzantines
- Arabs
PART II: Dominion: c. AD 750 - AD 1215
- Franks
- Monks
- Knights
- Crusaders
PART III: Rebirth: c. AD 1215 - AD 1347
- Mongols
- Merchants
- Scholars
- Builders
PART IV: Revolution: c. AD 1348 - AD 1527
- Survivors
- Renewers
- Navigators
- Protestants

“The Black Death’s first wast lasted from 1347 until 1351. During that time, in the worst affected countries, up to 60% of the local population died.”

As we all have disease on our mind, this quote stuck with me. I guess we have another 3 years go to? :|

Throughout the book, Jones makes use of maps. He keeps all the plates at the back of the book. I wish they were linked in the text when they were mentioned. I didn’t discover these until finishing the book.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #6 in my My 2022 Reading Challenge

Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 07:34:00 +0800

(Fable of Utopia #1)

What if humans could back to a simpler time? Could we do it? And, would you go back? This is a book about one tribe in the future, the Kikuyu tribe, who try and ultimately fail. Set in the future, Kenya is a bustling metropolis with has all the problems you would expect, pollution, overcrowding. They have hover cars and other future technologies. Just as humans today have moved from hunter-gathering, to farmers, and now, consumers, it is so in future Kenya. Many of the traditional “African” animals such as lions, and elephants are extinct. Koriba, a witch doctor of the Kikuyu tribe, tries to go back “in time”. He gets a planetoid where he and other Kikuya tribe members can try and revive their traditional way of life without all the modern “European” technologies that the Kikuyu weren’t meant to have.

They settle on their Utopian planetoid and name it Kirinyaga. Their idea of utopia is challenged from within and from other events outside of the colony. As you would guess, it isn’t easy to satisfy everyone with this utopia and knowledge yearns to be free. If we think about our world, could we really go back to a time without computers? without cars? without electricity?

The book is an interesting look at the attempt to go back in time, in a sense. I knew from the start that it could never work out, but it was still a fantastic, philosophical book about the valiant attempt of one man, Koriba, trying to create his little utopia.

The book itself has a cool backstory. The prologue and 8 chapters of the book were original written as short stories. A lot of them were nominated for science fiction awards and one or two of them even won. The author made more short stories about this world and fit them together as a novel.

Now, I do find it a bit strange that a white author from Chicago, USA has written a book about an African tribe. He made many trips to Kenya, so I guess he has a connection to that place. He did use the Kikuyu tribe well as a general metaphor of what happens when places are colonized. He is very interested in myths and fables, as am I. He really drew me into the world of the Kikuyu. Now that I know it’s a real tribe, I wonder how many of the fables in the story are real, or made up?

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #4 in my My 2022 Reading Challenge

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 22:07:29 +0800

After reading A Tale of Two Cities, I decided to read A Christmas Carol, the book that inspired some of my favourite Christmas movies. It’s hard to choose which movie adaptation is my favourite from A Muppet’s Christmas Carol, to the less traditional adaptations like Scrooged, but they all have the touching story of a nasty person realizing the error of his ways.

At the heart of the story is a crotchety, rich, old miser, who is a nasty fellow without a care for anyone else around him. He spurns his nephew’s Christmas dinner invitations. He hates idleness, and begrudingly give his employee the day off for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by 3 ghosts who show him the past, present, and future of his life. He comes to the realization of how much of a bastard he has been and immediately changes his ways after waking up the next morning.

The many movie adaptations have faithfully captured much of the details from the story, so you actually aren’t missing out on too much if you don’t read this classic. I did enjoy reading the classic for Dicken’s clever turn of phrases and the dialogue. I always like seeing where movies come from. This book is a perfect ‘comfort read’ in these uncertain times.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #3 in my My 2022 Reading Challenge

Cold War Correspondent: A Korean War Tale by Nathan Hale

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 21:45:02 +0800

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11

I am a big fan of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales series. I have read every single book in the series. Sadly, this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I might’ve been influenced by finishing the excellent book, The Korean War by Max Hastings, just before reading this graphic novel but also the story just isn’t that exciting, as presented by Hale.

Hale tried to bring his style, and humour to this story, but it just didn’t work. The focus of the book was a female war correspondent, Marguerite Higgins. This person is unknown to me as a non-American. As with the whole series as a whole, at times it is very US-centric, but that hasn’t hindered me from enjoying others in the series. The story follows Ms. Higgins as she races around Korea trying to catch the big stories while facing backlash from the military for reporting the truth about the war.

The parts about the war felt flat. They didn’t feel real, and felt boring. It’s a war gosh-darnit, how did you make it boring?

I think this will be the last Hazardous Tale I buy sight unseen. It feels like Hale is losing his touch a bit, or this story just didn’t capture my attention like some of the other books in the series.

I hope the next book in the series has a bit more of that spark that made the previous books so special.

Rating: ★★

Book #2 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

The Korean War by Max Hastings

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 21:24:29 +0800

The Korean War by Max Hastings

A great narrative of the Korean War. Before reading this, I had no idea what happened in this war, despite living in South Korea for 2 years. I knew this war was very important to Taiwan’s history and this was quickly confirmed while reading this book.

“Again and again in Asia, America aligned herself alongside social forces which possessed no hope of holding power by consent. Chiang Kai-Shek’s followers, like those of Syngman Rhee, could maintain themselves in office only by the successful application of oppressive.”

Now there’s a truth about Taiwan’s dictator/first president if I ever heard one.

“America’s cash investment in Chiang’s creakingly corrupt regime had been enormous: $645 million in aid and $826 in Lend-Lease during World War II, followed by another two billion dollars in the years that followed…”

The Taiwanese ‘miracle’ was financed by America in their ‘fight against Communism". Taiwan was in the right place at the right time.

“Third, his area of command (General MacArthur) would be extended to include Formosa. The Seventh Fleet would deploy immediately between the island and the Chinese mainland, to ‘quarantine’ the Korean struggle, and discourage either Mao Tse Tung or Chiang Kai-Shek from embarking upon a dangerous escalation of Asian hostilities.”

This action was probably a pivotal change of direction for the fate of Taiwan. This decision has reverberations to this day in Taiwan. Taiwan was seen to be an important location to defend against communism. I wonder how history would’ve played out if the Korean War didn’t break out and the navy didn’t get in between China and Taiwan. These are the questions that will never be answered. In a way, it feels like the Korean War ‘saved’ Taiwan.

Clueless officers! General Almond making small talk to the soldiers…

“‘Well, men, and how are you today? Pretty cold, isn’t it.’ The bearded, muffled scarecrows peered out at him from the inch or two of exposed flesh around their eyes. ‘Do you know I wear a plate?’ persisted Almond conversationally. ‘When I got up this morning, there was a film of ice on the glass by my bed.’ ‘That’s too fucking bad, General’, said one of these men who could not dare to dream of ever seeing a bed again. Almond strolled on, oblivious of the impression he had made.”

The following quote probably could be attributed to most wars after World War 2. World War 2 will probably be remembered as the last ‘just’ war with truly villainous bad guys like Hitler, the SS, and the Japanese Empire.

“A patrol from A Company of the British 1st Gloucesters came upon a huddled mass of Korean civilians lying in a river bed. Some were dying - of exposure, weakness, hunger, exhaustion. The British soldiers formed a human chain to pull them up. ‘Thank you ver much,’ said a woman, in perfect English. ‘I teach English at the university,’ she explained, answering their surprise. The Gloucestors asked if there was anything more they could do for her. ‘Haven’t you done enough already?’ she demanded bitterly. ‘Just all go away and leave us with what’s left of our country.’ She turned on her heel and walked away across the hill.”

Time and again there are reminders of what the purpose of the war was, it wasn’t to help the Koreans. Rather, it was to stop the insidious spread of communism from infecting South East Asia. Very little thought was given to the Koreans, on either side of the 38th parallel, throughout the war that ravaged the country. Countries pay a very high price when America brings the ‘gift’ of freedom to people. The most recent examples being in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It feels like this review was mostly how the Korean War was important for Taiwan but the book was really quite good in explaining the Korean War. I always wish for more maps while reading history books and this was no exception. Luckily, the Korean war has lots of photos of the soldiers and maps online. Kepe your phone handy as you read this because many of the places where battles were fought will be unknown to you. I feel like I lived just a bit of the war now and know the pivotal battles of Imjin River, and the Chosin Resevoir. I know the politics behind MacArthur and the other follies of the war. I appreciate the writer, who’s a Brit, writing about more than just the American troops in the war, too.

If you are interested in Asian history, especially the history of China, you must become acquainted with this almost ‘forgotten’ war.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #1 in my 2022 Reading Challenge

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 22:30:51 +0800

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

That famous quote from this novel is from the first page. You must’ve heard it paraphrased many times before, I know I have. This novel is Dicken’s take on the French Revolution. This is a historical novel with a love story that is disrupted by the Reign of Terror in France where the guilotine was making short work of any people thought to be aristocrats.

There were very memorable characters in this novel. Dickens sure loves his adjectives, doesn’t he? I was glad to be reading this on my eReader so I could look up the archaic words I had not read before. There were some really iconic scenes in the novel that will stay with me. A really powerful scene was when the aristocrat runs over a child, kills them, and throws a coin at the weeping father. The French Revolution is a long, and very complicated event, but Dicken’s has managed to give you just enough of the facts and rolled them up into a compelling narrative to try to stir up your emotions.

This is the first Dicken’s novel I have read. I have watched almost every film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. I am now very interested in reading it. I doubt I will fit it in before the end of 2021 though. I’m glad I read this classic novel this year.

Love it or hate it A Tale of Two Cities is one of those classic novels that is a must read for fans and scholars of English literature. The metaphors, characters, adn quotes from the book are oft reused or discussed in other newer books. The great books from the past inform writers in the present so it is very importnat to take time to read some older books (classics) from time to time. Is there a classic novel you’ve been interested in reading? Well, go read it then!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #118 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 22:22:22 +0800

“I can’t say what made me fall in love with Vietnam - that a woman’s voice can drug you; that everything is so intense. The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London. They say whatever you’re looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that’s the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there’s a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.”

I was blown away by this book. The cynical British reporter, Thomas, is twittering his time away in Vietnam during first Indochina War. As most foreign men there, he has a woman and is enjoying the drugs. He’s happy, I guess. Thomas soon crosses paths with a naive American from the Economic Mission, Pyle. There is some dueling for Thomas' Vietnamese woman. Pyle is eventually killed. In the novel, we first learn Pyle is killed, and then experience the rest of the story through long flashbacks. The ending is quiet satisfying and fits perfectly with the rest of the story.

“That was my first instinct – to protect him. It never occurred to me that there was a greater need to protect myself. Innocence always calls mutely for protection when we would be so much wiser to guard ourselves against it: innocence is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world, meaning no harm.”

I can tell why the American press would call this anti-American, and not flattering to the eventual US intervention in Vietnam. This isn’t really just about war. It’s about love. It’s about colonialism. It’s about right and wrong. Greene packs a lot his short 189 page book.

“Thought’s a luxury. Do you think the peasant sits and thinks of God and Democracy when he gets inside his mud hut at night?”

This book was filled with incredible quotes throughout. Greene had a good grasp of the politics happening in Vietnam. Reading this after the Vietnam war and seeing the lessons the US did not learn from the French in Vietnam, and the British everywhere else is hard to grasp. Have the super powers learnt anything from their colonial adventures trying to save the brown and yellow people?

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #117 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

DK Eyewitness: Shell by Alex Arthur

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:30:35 +0800

Now, I’m a person who’s never met a Discovery Kids (DK) book I really didn’t like this one. DK Eyewitness: Shell was utterly boring and lacking a clear focus.

The focus of the whole book was shells. This means it had sections on crustaceons, turtles, crabs, snails, clams, etc. It felt like every page was just showing me more and more different type of shells and shelled creatures. It has such a broad focus that it just overwhelmed you with tonnes of detail. Here are shells from the beach. Here are crabs with shells. Here are tortoises and their shells. It was data overload. They have to package it in a way that keeps things interesting and tells a story with the information.

For example, if it was a smaller topic, say ‘snails’, they might’ve had a better chance of making it interesting. They could’ve talked about different things like: lifecycle of snails, how humans used snails in cooking, the different types of snails, other uses of snails, etc.

Eventhough I didn’t like this DK book, I still learned something. I still consider it a worthy addition to my bookshelf, in that it lets young kids who don’t have a smartphone see full-color pictures of things. It’s like having a museum in a book!

Rating: ★★

Book #116 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 17:24:49 +0800

Why did I even read this book? I’m not even sure. I picked this up on one of my scavenging missions at the bookstore after hearing it mentioned on a TV show, or maybe it was in another book I was reading? If a character mentions a book in a novel I’m reading, I’m usually apt to look it up. I think this was the case with this novel. I dimly remember this book being mentioned as a character’s favourite novel when they were a kid.

The book is about two children who decide to run away and live in a New York museum. Their naivety and enthusiasm for their little adventure is quaint. The older sister has the annoying habit of correcting grammatical mistakes made by her younger brother. The younger brother seems like a 1950s stereotype of a Dennis the Menace type of boy. While living in the museum, they discover a mystery in the museum that piques their interest. This eventually leads them to meet Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The whole book is presented as Frankweiler writing a letter to her lawyer.

The language use shows its age as this was written in the 1960s. The prices of things are so low, as an adult, it’s hard to imagine that an ice cream cost only 30 cents at one time! It’s funny how casually the issue of kids disappearing is treated in the book, but I imagine that’s part of the humour and appeal of the book. This book was definitely written in a ‘simpler time’.

It seems unfair to rate a kids book when you read it as an adult. I enjoyed it as an adult, but I didn’t try to analyze it too closely. I have read it, and added it to my bookshelf as a ‘give to my daughter when she’s old enough to read it’ shelf. It seems cliche to say this because we’ve heard it so much this year with COVID and all this other garbage, but it was nice to read a wholesome, simple little story!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #115 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Why COVID19 Has Been a Net Positive for the World and My Family

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 07:35:48 +0800

I held off on writing about COVID19 for so long because it seemed to be a fad, and I was just sick of hearing about it. Now, that the dust has settled and the Earth didn’t completely shut down, I have a bit better perspective on it. There is always change in our world. When I was growing up, we didn’t even have cell phones until I was in high school. We can moan about it and reminisce about the “good ol' days”, or we can adapt. As a species, we have been adapting. Are we adapting like the frog who is sitting in a gradually warming pot of water, or like [some other more positive metaphor]? I hope the latter. Therefore, I posit that COVID19 has had a net positive effect on the world, and personally in my own family.

First off, as with any major event in our world, wars or pandemics, there is loss of life. Were not the boom years after WW1 and 2 because millions of people died? Jobs opened up for others, more food and wealth was divided amongst fewer people. The same thing happened after the Black Death. The Black Death killed at least 75 million people. So far, COVID19 has only killed 5 millions humans on a planet with almost 7 billion of us on it. Why has COVID19 been positive for the world? It has shocked us and brought us back to reality. It has shown us that we are human and our health and environment matter. We are not some ethereal beings that can exist on the Internet, or only through devices. We are mortal. We eat, breathe, sleep. Fuck Bitcoin, the cloud, Tesla, and all this other garbage that has blinded us to major problems on our world. COVID19 has reminded us of the real things that are important: family, friends, health care, doctors, nurses, social safety nets, and sane politicians (aren’t they in the shortest supply?). It has also shown the world that China is a dangerous country. They lied about where COVID19 originated, and when it started. They have put their propaganda machine on overdrive to try and make people forget about all their lies and stalling to let the world know they had a major problem. People are realizing that they are not a positive force in this world, and everybody should be wary of China. Unfortunately, almost all manufacturing occurs in China though. Countries are starting to realize that for the sake of national security you cannot rely on China to manufacture everything, some things have to be made at ‘home’, or in a democratic ally’s country - no China is not democratic, they have a Chairman not a president. But I digress…let’s get back to COVID19 and how it affected my family and I.

For my family, the beginning of COVID19 was a bit scary. I have two children and obviously was worried about their health and safety. As Taiwan slowly made it out of the darkest days, it has been more calm. My family has travelled a lot less during the past 2 years, even within Taiwan. It’s natural to want to be ‘safe’, and safe right now means staying away from large groups of people. These past two years our lifestyle has change, but gotten better in many ways. Since restaurants were closed, or we just avoided them for some time, we started cooking at home a lot more. This led my wife to become more interested in baking. Now, she bakes all sorts of yummy treats for our family from lemon pound cake, to my personal favourite, Nanaimo Bars! I’m happy she’s found a new hobby! Our family has avoided crowded places, so this means we stayed home more watching TV together, playing board games, making art projects, or exercising outside. Once it was ‘safe enough’ to be outside, we started visited out door places like parks, or walking trails. We have been avoiding public transportation but have now started taking mini road trips to the less populated parts of Taiwan. We live near Taipei, so taking a road trip anywhere outside of Taipei is automatically less crowded. I do miss taking international trips with my family, but we are adapting.

Some of you will think I’m a heartless bastard for writing this. I’m not heartless, I just have a cold rationality. It feels a bit like the world was too crowded, we have overstretched the resources of this world, and a nasty virus took advantage of that. Yes, there probably was some fooling around in China that kicked off this whole pandemic, but if not China in 2019, it would’ve occurred somewhere else. Does anybody remember the Spanish flu of 1910? Nope, neither did I and that was the problem. Our world is so interconnected now that something that happens on the other side of the world can still have a major impact on you. We all live on this planet, and need to do better - in so many ways. I hope COVID19 has woken up a lot of people out of their complaceny towards health care, the environment, and the evils of capitalism. I have to be honest though, I don’t think it can really change us ‘oldies’ that much (that’s why a lot of us gotta die!), but I wonder about the kids who are livign through COVID19 right now and if they will have a different, or better world view than us? Time will tell.

Stay safe out there people!

Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 21:57:25 +0800

I discovered this author by reading his book, The Borrowed. I loved that gritty, mystery. This led me to his newer book, Second Sister.

Your sister killed herself.

The story is about an older sister who is told her younger sister, Sui-Man has killed herself. The older sister, Nga-Yee, has difficulty accepting this, and wants to find out why. Eventually, her investigation leads her to a hacker who investigates cases he finds interesting. When she finds out who is ‘at fault’ for her sister’s apparent suicide, she gets to take out her revenge on them.

The plot was mostly about the hacker investigator tracking down clues as they slowly discover the events that led up to Sui-Man’s death. There are lots of tech tricks the hacker has to explain to clueless Nga-Yee. At times, it seems a bit annoying he how explains everything but I have to remember how I have a bit more technical knowledge than the average reader. The tech methods the hacker uses are not fanciful, and are in the realm of possibility.

The plot is not straightforward, but as it is uncovered, layer-by-layer, it makes sense once they get to the ending. There are a few twists and turns but once they are revealed the previous hints he has dropped make sense. An interesting plot device he uses is a text chat that appears at different points in the novel and it is written by someone connected to the crime. There aren’t any names in this text chat, so it keeps you guessing who it is. It was a very well done element of this book!

This was as much as a page turner as The Borrowed. I will keep an eye on this author. I really like mystery novels, but don’t usually find ones that I like.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #114 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

The Gunpowder Age by Tonio Andrade

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 21:49:44 +0800

The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History by Tonio Andrade

A book that explores China’s military experimentation with gunpowder from 900 CE to the middle of the 19th century. His thesis is that China was at times ahead of the West in gunpowder technology and even invented guns and bombs. He also goes on to give his reasons why he thinks China fell behind the West in military technology which ultimately led to the major defeat of China in both opium wars. He is convincing in his arguments, if at times a bit overzealous in his defence of China. He needs to take such strong position because the common belief in history is that China had, or has always had, a military inferior to those of the Western powers.

This book includes some lovely old illustrations from the Ming (?) dynasty drill manuals.

I would have to say Andrade is a bit biased in wanting to show how great China was before their domination by Western forces but he explores some very interesting topics.

His main topics explored in this novel:

gunpowder was invented in China first
early gunpowder weapons used more to burn troops or siege weapons
rifle drill was used in China even before muskets were invented. Crossbow drill was identical!
Why were big cannons used in Europe but not in China? Attributes it to wall design in China which was very sturdy which made it almost impossible for cannons to breach the walls.
China had military parity with the west for sometime before the 1800s

For people very interested in Chinese history, or military history in general, this was a great book. I highly recommend Tonio Andrade’s other excellent book, “Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory over the West.” Lost Colony is about the Ming loyalist and pirate Koxinga and his victory over the Dutch in Taiwan.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #113 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 21:15:13 +0800

Funnily enough, I actually heard of this book from watching “The Big Bang Theory”. Amy Farrah Fowler mentions it as her favourite book during the show. When I was growing up in Canada, we didn’t read many texts like this. ‘Texts like this’ being from the traditional Anglo-Saxon canon. I don’t even think we read Shakespeare. So, I decided to read the Canterbury Tales partly for the interesting stories, and partly for the historical significance of the text.

The story is about a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to visit a church. Along the way to ease their boredom, each person needs to tell a tale to keep them amused. Some of the stories are raunchy, others about knights, one is about alchemy, and others about God. Many were great, but some were filled with allegories to God and were a bit of a bore to get through.

The historical significance is pretty incredible. It was written between 1387 and 1400. How often do we have a chance to read texts over 600 years old?

The one difficult point I laboured over before beginning was which translation to read? Or should I try to read the original? The Canterbury Tales are written in Middle English, so the spelling and pronunciation of the English words are very different from modern English.

Here’s an example of a passage from the excellent Wikipedia entry for this book. Go look - it has many pictures!

    Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe
    I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,'
    Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother mo
    That wedded been.'

vs.

    'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow
    I know enough, in the evening and in the morning,'
    said the Merchant, 'and so do many others
    who have been married.'

I ended up reading The Canterbury Tales translated by David Wright (ISBN13:9780192815972). Though I enjoyed reading this book, I will still try to find an original translation of my favourite tales in the original Middle English to read. I want to hear what the language sounded like.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #112 in my ReadingChallenge2021

Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 20:45:37 +0800

I almost wrote off Andy Weir forever after reading reviews of Artemis. I really liked his book the Martian which even got made into a pretty nifty movie. Some may not like long descriptions of ‘science-y’ problem solving, but it was good for me. It was like those human survival stories but in space. After his success in The Martian, he released Artemis.

One look at the bad reviews for Artemis had me running for the hills!

this book is a masterclass for how male authors should never write a female character. like, never ever ever. i honestly have >never read such terrible characterisation before and i can only think of two reasons for why that is.

andy weir just copied what he wrote for mark in ‘the martian’ and pasted it into this book. or,

andy weir has somehow managed to never meet a woman in his entire life.

In space, no-one can hear you yawn…

I can imagine that publishing a second novel is kind of a suckfest, especially when your debut novel was a grandiose bestseller. How do you follow up? Can you even recreate the success and drive of the first one? So I did not go into Artemis hoping I would enjoy it as much as The Martian. Even so, I was disappointed.

I quickly got the message to avoid Artemis. Recently, I started to hear good buzz about Hail Mary. I saw it in the used bookstore and flipped through it. I was intrigued. Checking the reviews for Hail Mary made me even more interested - 4.6 stars! As I just finished some heavy novels, I thought let’s sit back and read something ‘light’. We all need some ‘book popcorn’ now and then.

In Hail Mary, it feels like Andy Weir has found his niche. Space + big problem + jokes + science! Weir sort of reminds me of Dan Brown. When I pick up a Dan Brown novel, I know what to expect. I know it won’t be a literary masterpiece, but it will be fun and keep me turning the pages! This is exactly how I felt when I read “Hail Mary”. It felt familiar but interesting enough I wanted to stay up late and see what happens next.

The main plot of Hail Mary is similar to The Martian, though it is setup in a different way. In Hail Mary, the main guy wakes up in a spaceship and doesn’t even know his name. Eventually, he discovers he is on a mission to save humans from extinction. He needs to do lots of ‘science’ things to complete his mission.

If it wasn’t winter right now, this would be a perfect beach read. It has an interesting story, some humour, and nice twist on The Martian formula about half-way through the book.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #111 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Formosa Files Podcast by by John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:37:07 +0800

Formosa Files Podcast

As a permanent resident of Taiwan, I have been enamoured with learning about the island’s history. I am excited to tell you about a new podcast I have discovered - Formosa Files! It is a great podcast to learn about Taiwan’s intricate history in the past 400 years from pre-colonization, through the KMT years, and up to more current events.

I’ve already zipped through listening to 13 episodes and am hooked. I don’t often listen to podcasts, but these short 30-40 minute episodes are perfect for learning about interesting lesser known topics about Taiwan while I’m doing mindless work like marking workbooks, or stapling worksheets.

The hosts of this podcast are John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith. John Ross is the owner of the publishing house, Camphor Press, which specializes in publishing books about East Asia. He is very knowledgable about Taiwan, used to live here, and has even written his own book about Taiwan - Taiwan in 100 Books. The co-host, Smith, is a news broadcaster from ICRT. They both work well together with Ross providing the deep book knowledge, and book recommendations (!) with Smith keeping the episode moving along smoothly and bringing his own local knowledge as a current resident of Taiwan.

To give you a sense of the range of topics you will discover here are episodes 1-10:

The White Formosan
Koxinga vs. The Dutch (Part 1)
The Fall of Fort Zeelandia (Part 2)
Mao Really Wants Taiwan
Rioters Ransake the Taipei U.S. Embassy (1957)
Big Crises on Tiny Islands
WW2 Invasion
POWs, Bombing Raids, and Kamikazes
The Empire’s Last Soldier 10.The Qing Empire Doesn’t Really Want Taiwan

As you may notice, the episodes are in non-chronological order, so you may jump in or out of the podcast (or gasp even skip an episode!) if you wish.They are not stody, boring history lessons, but rather take interesting events from the past to tell “Taiwan’s Story”. A review of this podcast also recently appeared in the Taipei Times.

Rating: ★★★★★

How to Use Hugo with Yunohost

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 13:38:10 +0800

How to Use Hugo with Yunohost

I recently switched from the Writefreely self-hosted blogging platform, to Hugo. I switched because I wanted more customizability and control of the look & feel of my blog. I also like learning new systems. Another bonus for me, is having all my content separated from the theme of my blog. My whole blog is literally a bunch of *.md files.

What is Hugo?

“Hugo is a static HTML and CSS website generator written in Go.”
you create ‘pages’ or ‘posts’ in markdown, that is converted to regular HTML

Documentation: Hugo
GitHub page: Hugo - Github page

Why I Changed to Hugo vs. WriteFreely

Hugo

so many themes!
my content is in simple markdown files that are easy to edit and backup
lots more control over tags, categories, and more!

WriteFreely

integrates with ActivityPub which is great if you are using Mastodon or something like that - I am not, but I used to…

If you are moving from WriteFreely to Hugo, feel free to use my script to get you started.

How to use Hugo?

Before we get started, you have to understand that Hugo is very different from most “blogging platforms”. You don’t login to Hugo to post on your blog. You don’t have to have Hugo installed on the server that hosts your website.

I suggest you look through the quickstart guide to see how it works before going any further. Look at the Overview below to get a general idea of what we are going to do in this tutorial.

Overview of How Hugo will Work on Yunohost

create a post using markdown on your computer, hugo new post/my-first-page.md
edit the post in the terminal or with a text editor (basic example below)

---
#this is called frontmatter
title: "My first page"
date: 2021-11-30T13:38:10+08:00
tags: ["tag1","tag2"]
----
#your content goes here.
Hello world!

run hugo to create your pages on your computer, or hugo server to explore your site locally (localhost:1313)
upload the /public folder of your Hugo project from your computer to your Yunohost server’s /var/www/ folder

Setup Hugo and your Website!

Install Hugo on your computer, not on Yunohost! This is where you will be editing your website.

On your computer, follow the directions in the Hugo Quick Start
On Yunohost, install the Custom Web app with SFTP access / my_webapp_ynh GitHub
Upload your Website’s /public/ directory to Yunohost’s /var/www/my_webapp/www/

Upload your Website to Yunohost

Extra detail for last step above.

Note: There is no correct or single way to do this - you can use a USB drive, SFTP, rsync or even GitHub!

My blog is installed in ~/Documents/arkadicloud on my computer
~/Documents is synced to my Yunohost Nextcloud
After making changes to my content, I run hugo on my computer in the /arkadicloud directory
I have a cron job that runs at 23:59 every night. It makes a tar backup of current pages, and copies the latest changes to the web server:

#!/bin/bash
now=$(date +"%F")
filename=arkadicloud_$now

echo "* ARKADI-CLOUD BLOG *"
echo "** DELETE BACKUP **"
find /home/yunohost.backup/archives/ -type f -iname 'arkadicloud_*' -mtime +7 -delete
#sudo rm /home/admin/arkadicloud-backup.tar
echo "*** MAKE BACKUP ***"
sudo tar -cf /home/yunohost.backup/archives/$filename.tar /var/www/my_webapp/www/
#sudo tar -cf /home/admin/arkadicloud-backup.tar /var/www/my_webapp/www/
echo "**** SYNC PAGES TO ARKADI-ONE WEB SERVER ****"
sudo rsync -ah --delete /home/yunohost.app/nextcloud/data/elias/files/Documents/arkadicloud/public/ /var/www/my_webapp/www/
echo "** FINISHED! **"

Final Thoughts

Hugo is easy to setup, but difficult to master all the little details. Don’t be discouraged. Figure out what you want to accomplish, and figure it out.

I’m still figuring out the most efficient way to tag things, create archetypes for posts, and master markdown!

I hope the above infromation is enough to help get you started.

Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 12:31:00 +0800

Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena

This is a story of 3 women in Latvia: the grandmother, the mother, and the daughter. It’s a sad, and happy story. The grandmother lives through a harrowing time during the end of WW2. The grandparents fondly remember a time when Latvia was its own country with a flag and national anthem. The mother was on track to be a well-respected doctor but ran afoul of the ‘new rules’ of Soviet Latvia. She struggles to adapt to living in the ‘cage’. The daughter has to keep her mom’s will to live alive. The daughter was born in the cage, so she doesn’t even see the bars. Slowly, she starts to learn about freedom, and the old, free Latvia through her grandparents.

It was difficult for me to keep track of the women at times if I wasn’t reading too carefully. Everytime you see the * at the end of a section you have to make sure you mentally change the character in your head.

It was a beautiful book that certainly would reward a reader reading it a second time. The metaphor of a mother’s milk was used throughout the book. I liked the refence to the banned book fragment the mother gets ahold of with the character Winston in it. I wonder what book that could be? :D

Rating: ★★★★

Book #110 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 12:31:00 +0800

Hilarious romp through knight & hero cliches being turned on their heads. The story is top-notch. I love the humor, and the playful joking between ‘evil villian’ and sidekick. The writing is so good that it carries the good, but not spectacular drawing.

The story is about a ‘evil villian’, who is not actually that bad, and his sidekick that latches onto him. The sidekick is a strong, shapeshifting girl, that has major attitude. The is fearless in fighting the good guys, who actually turn out to be not all that good.

I am slowly collecting books like this that will be be able to be enjoyed by my daughter someday. I like stories with strong female characters that aren’t just ‘pretty dolls’ waiting to be rescued by the strong men.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #109 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 12:31:00 +0800

The trouble with the Enenglish is that their hiss hiss history happened overseas, so they dodo don’t know what it means

Whisky Sisodia, in The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

This is a fascinating look at empire and what it means in modern day UK. It explores large topics such as Empire day, how imperial history is (not) taught in school, the stolen imperial loot in the British museum, immigration, slavery, and how the conquests of the past still affect present day life in the UK.

Chapters in the book:

Empire Day 2.0
Imperialism and Me
Difficult History
Emotional loot
We are here because you were there
Home and Away
World-beating Politics
Dirty Politics
Empire State of Mind
Selective Amnesia
Working off the Past

Now from the description of this book, and the chapters of the book I’ve just listed, it seems like this covers a broad range of topics. It does. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go into as much detail as I would’ve liked into all these topics. This is a quick read. It makes good points, but never goes as deep as I want it to.

Some of these chapters are adapted from Sanghera’s previous news articles. Each chapter is self-contained and can be read in one sitting.

I was expecting more of a deep dive like the monumental book, “The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding” which is a very, very detailed account of the colonization of Australia.

I certainly was nodding my head a lot during the chapter Emotional Loot. Sanghera details how the spoils of war were divied up to the soldiers, and auctioned off. This was the standard practice for most imperial armies. As a person of Greek heritage, it still eats me up inside that pieces of the sacred Parthenon are sitting in the British Museum of Imperial Stolen Antiquities.

A major topic that Sanghera keeps circling around to is Britain’s role in the slave trade. I recommend reading “Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves by Adam Hochschild, if you want to learn more about the British Empire’s role in the slave trade, and it’s eventual abolishment.

So, the ultimate question you will be asking yourself, is it worth reading this book? Yes, but this is not a history book about the British Empire. I guess I came into this book with an expectation of learning more about the British Empire while learning about how it is shaping modern Britain.

Rating: ★★★

Book #108 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

Mon, 22 Nov 2021 17:17:20 +0800

About the Book

This book was quite a departure from the other books by Cherryh I’ve read before. If you haven’t been watching my blog, I have been reading her books from the beginning of the CompanyWars. After finishing those books, I decided to jump into Cyteen to see what is happening in Union space.

This book begins with the history of Cyteen, and how it came to be. We have heard this story in bits and pieces in all her books, but never from the perspective of the Union. A key place in Cyteen is Reseune. This is where they create azi. Azi are humans, that are bioenginereed, and trained with ‘tape’. They don’t have mothers. They are contracted to a Supervisor. Union needed bodies to get their civilization moving and colonized. They needed soldiers, farmers, and other people. One of the founders of Resune research facility is Ariane Emory. She is the mastermind behind all the azi setup. Eventually everyone grows old and dies, but in Reseune you can also make Personal Replicates (we would call them clones). The first part of the book is about Ariane and the politics of Resune. Then, she is murdered and cloned. They raise her until she becomes as good as her predecessor. Enemies and friends of the old Ari (AE1) are still around and it takes some adjustment to deal with her. Eventually there is an incident on Cyteen that forces the new Ari (AE2) to assume control of Resuene and continue the work of AE1. The book ends after the passing of power.

Thoughts

This book was very long, and certainly felt like it. I really like the concepts she talks about: tape learning, cloning - workers vs. personal clones, psych, ‘flux’ thinking of humans, and identity. I like how the 40,000 settlers in Gehanna is brought into play with politics. I really want to read that book now! Unfortunately, the problem with this book is that it’s just too goddamned long. She needed an editor to slice all the unnesessary thinking of the characters in half. This book did not need to be 680 pages. It should’ve been about 300-400 pages. Cherryh is better with her shorter books in my opinion. The scope of this book just got away from her I think. This book must’ve been released at the height of her fame, so she got away with releasing a monstrosly long book without letting the editor cut it down to size.

I’m torn with this book. I loved the politics, exploration of cloning & identity but it just dragged on and on. I’ve read books that are over 1000 pages, but they didn’t feel like they were so long. There was too little action in this one. All-in-all, I have to say this was my least favourite C.J. Cherryh book I’ve read thus far.

Would I recommend you read this one? Only if you are a super fan and need to read every book in a series. After this one, I will take a bit of a break from Cherryh’s world and read some other books lest I sour on C.J. Cherryh completely.

Rating: ★★★

Book #107 in my ReadingChallenge2021

Finity's End by C.J. Cherryh

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 08:32:05 +0000

“Finity’s End by C.J. Cherryh The Company Wars #7

A wonderful ‘end’ to a wonderful series. This one had all the hallmarks of a C.J. Cherryh story: a bad-ass protagonist in a situation they don’t want, taken along with large political things happening in the background, and learning more about the inner workings of living on a merchanter ship.

This is one of the strongest books in the whole Company Wars series. I really felt I connected with the main characters J.R., an officer on Finity’s End, Fletcher, a long-lost cousin brought back to Finity’s End, and Jeremy, the young ‘cousin’ that shows Fletcher the ropes on Finity’s End. The whole plot revolves around Finity’s End, the most famous merchanter ship in space, taking back one of their kin. This kin didn’t really want to be taken back, but as an orphan, he has little choice. Finity’s End incorporates him into their ship structure and teaches him about life on a ship. This is not very easy for a ‘stationer’. There are incidents that happen along the way, and Finity’s End seems to be on its own mission too.

Why do I say this is the ‘end’? Because it isn’t really, there is also Cyteen to dig my teeth into. I’ve already started reading it, but it is much, much different than Company Wars. It is very much about the political scheming that’s happening in Union space. It’s interesting to see things from the ‘enemy’s’ side though. I’ll let you know how I like that one once I’m finished.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #106 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Looking at Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 08:31:16 +0000

“Looking at Totem Poles by Hilary Stewart

Having grown up on the West Coast of Canada, Haida art holds a special place in my heart. I grew up marveling at the simple, bold Haida designs, and am especially fond of totem poles.

This book is a guide to 110 poles on the West Coast of North America from Alaska down to Washington State. Each pole has a scaled illustration, information on the carvers, and a narrative about the history of the pole, its carving process, or other interesting tidbits about the pole. I learned so much about the stories, and animals depicted on the totem poles, and also how much I miss Canada.

I’ll hold on tightly to this book and bring it out again when I have the chance to view these marvelous totem poles in person again.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book 105 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:46:43 +0000

The Comic Books #1

Another stellar book about comics by Scott McCloud. It goes all the way back in history to Mayan/Egyptian times, and talks about everything in between. It talks about what is a comic, the different types of panels, and how the words and pictures work together. It talks about the symbols, and ‘language of comics’. It tells you everything you wanted to know, and everything you didn’t even know you wanted to know.

This is for anybody who wants to learn more about comics, or is interested in the history of them. I read the 3rd book in this series before I read this. The 3rd one is certainly more polished than this one. This is a book I’ll keep on the shelf and refer to from time to time.

Comics are such a wonderful medium that has been denigrated in Western society, so it is nice to read something that analyzes them with the care they deserve.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #104 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Tripoint by C.J. Cherryh

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:37:58 +0000

The Company Wars #6

I’m tearing through the C.J. Cherry books. This one wasn’t my favourite of the bunch so far. This one is about a merchanter woman who was raped 20 years ago by a merchanter from another ship, and had a child from this coupling. This has created a lot of bad blood between the two ships. Fast forward to present day, the boy is grown up and the woman is still itching for revenge. Throw in a little Maziani spook intrigue and other events, and that’s the whole book.

This one didn’t keep me that interested all the way through. I didn’t really like any of the characters in this book. There were some nice moments and the world building it contributes to the universe is good, but it didn’t work for me as a novel.

I have just started Finity’s End, the last book in the Company Wars. It is supposed to be much better. Fingers crossed!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #103 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 14:59:36 +0000

A slow, meandering journey towards death, literally. A Sri Lankan expat moves home. He gets back home life and spends time with his grandma. He reflects on his life, his past lovers, and the past of his country. A family friend of the grandma dies, and he is forced to go to the funeral far away in a village. His reflection on the life of his grandma, and his own life continues on the long train ride.

Now, there isn’t anything wrong with this book. It is a literary type of book that explores many complex, and worthwhile issues. It really got me interested in Sri Lankan history. I shall do a deep-dive into Wikipedia right now to learn a bit about the war they keep referring to.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #102 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Rimrunners by C.J. Cherryh

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 14:52:46 +0000

Company Wars #3

A story about a badass spacer separated from her ship. She’s down on her luck and desperate to get off Thule station and onto a ship, any ship. No job means no money, and she struggles to survive anyway she can. A ship comes in and offers a chance at redemption, or maybe death?

Cherryh is all about the personal relationships of people. Everybody has their own agenda, and nothing is what it seems. This one was tense all the way through and the last part of the book was a real surprise.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #101 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Merchanter's Luck by C.J. Cherryh

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 22:59:17 +0000

“Merchanter’s Luck by C.J. Cherryh The Company Wars #2

Now this was a great novel. It’s so short so some even consider this a novella. After the long, and sometimes a bit long-winded, introduction to the Earth Company - Alliance - Union universe, we get to go for a ride with some merchanter’s who get caught up in things bigger than themselves.

The novel follows a spacer who owns his own ship but is barely scraping by. He is a thief, but one who just steals enough to survive, and tries to pay it back when he can. Of course, running a ship with one man is very difficult so he is always looking for other people to help him out. When looking for a crew member, he happens to meet a nice lady. Things escalate from there until they are both joined up with each other on a mission. The mission is not what it seems, but the crew of the ship learns a lot about themselves, and this new Alliance-Union world.

I love novels by Cherryh because she takes a big world, with huge political forces at play, and then zooms into a the lives of some people trying to survive in this world. In Heavytime, she looked at the lives of space pilots that work for the Earth company doing the mining. In this novel, she is focused on marginers. What would it be like to work as a trader in this world if you were just a little guy? Once she focuses on characters in her world, she can start delving into the details of their world - how does shipping work across stations? do you need papers? who gets cargo and why?

Come to think of it, almost all the books I’ve read so far have had character who have been in difficult situations. Station people who don’t have the correct papers. Miners who find a dead body. Captains who don’t have enough crew and money to survive. Spacers with no ship who are homeless and trying to get back on a ship. She really excels with these types of characters.

I’ve read many sci-fi novels which are all high level events. You never know about the little things, like where does the trash go? Do you need papers to show you own your ship? Cherryh thinks about these small details. It makes her worlds so rich, and vibrant.

Reading Downbelow Station isn’t required before this one, but they do mention lots of characters and things from Downbelow Station. Your experience reading this book will be much richer if you start with Downbelow Station.

Psst…have you noticed that I’m on a Cherryh tear right now? I’m already reading Rimrunners!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #100 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #CJCherryh #scifi #books #UnionAlliance #CompanyWars”,

Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 22:56:05 +0000

“Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War by Samuel Moyn

In our time, swords have not been beaten into plowshares. They have been melted down into drones.

Did you know that Barack Obama launched more drone kill strikes than President Bush? Neither did I. This book chronicles the fight against war from the 1800s to present day. It gives details on the people who pushed to abolish war. It looked at the ebb and flow of public support for war, and various wars. It shows us how over the years we have moved away from advocating for no war, and instead trying to curb the excesses of war (torture, property damage, rape, water boarding). This has changed the focus of starting a war being a criminal act, to rather just punishing those who go ‘to far’ during war, judged by the sensibilities of the time.

We fight war crimes but have forgotten the crime of war.

This book makes me really sad. Instead of making war illegal, we have just set the ‘rules’ of the game. Now countries feel they are ‘following the law’ as they wage war and kill people. We have made made war moral. This means that instead of less war, we actually have more war, and wars last long…almost forever. How many years have the soldiers been in Afghanistan? Yes, we aren’t seeing the wholesale slaughter of people as we did during WW1, WW2, and the Taiping Rebellion (1850 to 1864, 20-80 million dead), but is the alternative any better?

We now live in an age when the US, primarily anyways, can drop a missile on anybody almost anywhere in the country without remorse or repercussions from other countries. Just imagine living in a country where you have to live in fear from death raining from above at any moment, or becoming ‘collateral damage’ because you are in the wrong place, at the wrong place beside a ‘terrorist’, as defined by the USA. They have abolished capturing bad guys, and now just obliterate them. There is no appeal once you are blown into a thousand pieces. You have no chance to defend yourself in a court. You are just dead.

““War is represented as an unfortunate obligation thrust upon the exceptional nation, the United States, by a dysfunctional world which the United States has a salvationist responsibility to mend, albeit by force of arms,”” writes the anthropologist Hugh Gusteron.

Is the US the only country to blame? No, but they are the country with the most nuclear weapons, drones, soldiers, and bases around the world. They also are the ones who violate borders the most often to police the world with their Predator/Reaper drones and the special forces.

Humans need to stop humanizing war, and just abolish war. One of the arguments from some people is that we’ve made war so ‘humane’, and unbrutal compared to before, that countries think nothing of going on a little war. There is little cost in terms of human lives, as long as you have enough money and tech.

First Sea Lord John Arbuthnot Fischer: ““The humanizing of War!”” ““You might as well talk about humanizing Hell””

Martin Luther King: ““A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.””

Martin Luther King: ““violence never brings permanent peace””

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #99 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #SamuelMoyn #War #military #history #books #BookReview”,

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:43:32 +0000

Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud",“Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud

This is an intense course on how to make comics, told in…graphic novel format! It is an incredible reference book for those that have ever thought of writing a comic or graphic novel. Even if you aren’t interested in creating your own comics, understanding the artform and different practices helps you understand, and appreciate comics even more.

I was so smitten by this book, I have already bought McCloud’s other famous work - Understanding Comics. This book is actually #3 in the McCloud’s series about Comics.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #98 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #books #BookReview #ScottMcCloud #comics #NonFiction #art #GraphicNovel”,

Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh

Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:32:34 +0000

“Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh The Company Wars #1

Everything you have heard about this book is true: epic, intricate, and very long. This was actually not the first book I read in the C. J. Cherryh’s Union-Alliance series. I discovered Cherryh from reading the Heavy Time & Hellburner book. I actually picked up Heavy Time at a used bookstore because the cover art was spectacular.

Now what is this book about? Let me try to boil down the plot and why it is such an interesting book. It is about the Earth Company that has expanded the human civilization out into other space stations out there. Now, Earth Company’s space stations are threatened by the Union. They seem to be people from Earth who now consider space their home. They also seem to be doing some crazy things like cloning soldiers. The third faction are the merchanter’s which are the unaffiliated people on ships who are engaged in trade. Another aspect of this book are the Downers, alien race. The space station which is at the heart of this book is Pell station. They are near a planet referred to as downbelow. The Downers live on downbelow. Oh did I mention that Earth has a Fleet out there doing battle with the Union’s fleet?

As with all of Cherryh’s books, there is politics, war, bad ass women, and philosophical issues. I love the feel of the worlds she creates and this one is no exception. It’s gritty. It’s dark. It’s focused on characters. This is not Iain M. Banks' The Culture. This feels closer the TV show, Firefly.

Now I don’t think I actually enjoyed this book as much as Heavy Time and Hellburner, but I understand much more of Company Union-Alliance world. There were many references to things I didn’t understand when I started reading other books in the series. It didn’t really hinder my enjoyment of those novels, but now my understanding of the world is so much richer after reading this book.

Enough about this book, just go read it. It won a Hugo award in 1982!

Another thing you shouldn’t miss out on is the music that was inspired by this series: https://archive.org/details/filk_finitys_end NOTE: I wouldn’t listen to this album until after you read it, as there are some subtle spoilers.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #97 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Empress and the Cake by Linda Stift

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 21:12:09 +0000

“The Empress and the Cake by Linda Stift

Jamie Bulloch (Translator)

This was a strange novel. It centers around an odd woman who has a weird relationship to food. I guess I should just say it, she has an eating disorder. Then she encounters an elderly lady that becomes her ““friend””. She gets her into some trouble and seems to wrap her fingers around here.

There is graphic descriptions of binging and purging. If you are triggered by this sort of thing, stay far away.

It was such a weird novel that I kept reading it. I wanted to find out what is going on with the elderly lady and what craziness she will wrap around the main character. There was an odd parallel story as well. It was about the Austrian Empress, and I never was quite sure if the elderly character was the Empress, or was just very close to her in her life.

I wouldn’t say it was a ‘good’ novel, but it was pretty warped, and kept me interested for the 172 pages.

This book is published by Peirene press which seems to publish some very eclectic works. I shall keep an eye on them in the future.

Rating: ★★★ Book #96 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #books #strange #LindaStift #PeirenePress #TranslatedFiction #eatingdisorder”,

The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn

Sat, 18 Sep 2021 16:39:50 +0000

In the tradition of Yangsze Choo’s Night Tiger and Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko comes a magical saga that explores what it really means to love.

This should be a 5 star read for me: historical fiction, set in Korea, set in war-time. It just didn’t put all the pieces together very well for me.

They compare the book to Pachinko which is not at all correct in my opinion. Pachinko is a layered, multi generational saga, with a rich description of the time period it is in, while The Mermaid from Jeju feels a bit flat. Hahn does not really set the scene very well of the time-period. She covers over this by including a timeline of events at the beginning of the story which is helpful, because if you don’t keep that in mind, you might forget you are in post-WW2 Korea.

The characters were interesting in this novel. I liked Junja, the main character. She was well described and written. The male characters were OK. I didn’t like how it kept jumping back and forth between the past and the present. It felt like a cheap trick. I didn’t feel it was necessary or added much to the plot.

The whole book felt like it got bogged down once it got to the end where it picks up the story of two Nationalist soldiers who help Junja flee Jeju island. This is where the book started jumping back and forth between past and future and got confusing quick.

When I read historical fiction, I don’t only read for the character development, but to learn about the time-period. It felt pretty bare bones in this one. The author is writing a book about Korea, but hasn’t lived there extensively. It feels like she mostly relied on the oral history of her family members and others. It doesn’t feel well researched, and that shows in the scanty time she pays to building up the setting.

It’s a quick read, so I won’t be too harsh on my rating. Just remember, this is not Pachinko, and shame on the editor who thought that was an apt comparison. Shame.

Rating: ★★★ Book #95 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

Sat, 18 Sep 2021 16:28:43 +0000

Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

A whirlwind look at the exciting world of bugs, the extraordinary ways they live, breed, eat, and die. It also explains why bugs are so important on this Earth. This is the perfect book for anybody who thinks bugs are just pests and should all be eliminated.

The chapters are short and concise. I almost wish the author went into more detail in every chapter, as they often feel too short. She gives us tantalizing morsels of data about a type of bug, and then she’s off and telling us about another one. This isn’t a genre of books I’m very familiar with but it seems I need to read more books about bug!

Also, you will want to keep your phone at hand as you read through this book and look up pictures of these incredible bugs she’s talking about. You may fall down a rabbit hole of watching Youtube videos of the bugs - you have been warned!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #94 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 15:26:57 +0000

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa

“This is a female text, composed by folding someone else’s clothes. My mind holds it close, and it grows, tender and slow, while my hands perform innumerable chores.

This book’s exploration of a historical poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, (The Keen for Art O’Leary), sucked me in. The poem is about an Irish noblewoman who finds her husband murdered and composes a poem on the spot after drinking some of his blood. It’s passed on from woman to woman for many years and eventually is written down. This book is also about the author, Dorieann Ni Ghriofa, and her lifelong obsession about with the author of the poem, and her life. This is part biography, part poetry, and part translation. It is truly a unique work, and difficult to describe.

The first part of the book focuses on the events in the life of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, up until her husband is murdered and she ‘writes’ her poem. The second portion of the book is more about Ghriofa’s quest to learn more about Eibhlín, her life, and about her relations.

The first part of the book was amazing, but it sort of derailed a bit in the second portion for me. I don’t regret reading this, it’s such a lovely exploration of womanhood, and the connection between these two women who lived hundreds of years apart, but it was not exactly what I was expecting.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #93 in my ReadingChallenge2021

This Place: 150 Years Retold - Anthology

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:50:04 +0000

“This Place: 150 Years Retold - Anthology

Explore the last 150 years through the eyes of Indigenous creators in the graphic novel anthology, This Place: 150 Years Retold. Beautifully illustrated, these stories are an emotional and enlightening journey through magic realism, serial killings, psychic battles, and time travel. See how Indigenous peoples have survived a post-apocalyptic world since Contact.

This is one of the 200 exceptional projects funded through the Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter initiative. With this $35M initiative, the Council supports the creation and sharing of the arts in communities across Canada.

This was an intense experience. It was depressing, and enraging to see how Canada has consistently tried to steal the land of the Indigenous Peoples, and used force to try to destroy their languages, their family ties, their traditions, and their connection to the land. It was also sad to reflect upon how little of these stories I were familiar with. The school system needs to do better to telling these stories. Canada needs to learn from its mistakes.

There are no filler stories in here. Every story was incredibly drawn, and a gut punch of a story. At the beginning of the story is a note from the author. There is also a timeline of events that explain the context of the story. In the back of the book are also references, so people can go find the news articles about these events.

It feels to me there will always be animosity between the State and Indigenous people. The State knows they exist on stolen land and keep trying to legitimatize this theft through ‘treaties’, apologies, and rewriting of history. What is the path forward? Every Nation State is built upon the bones of Indigenous people, and on their stolen land.

Too many authors/illustrators to list in the title of this review: Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Chelsea Vowel, Katherena Vermette, Jen Storm, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, David Alexander Robertson, Richard Van Camp , Brandon Mitchell, Sonny Assu, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Alicia Elliott(Foreword), G.M.B. Chomichuk (Illustrations), Scott B. Henderson (Illustrations), Tara Audibert (Illustrations), Natasha Donovan (Illustrations), Kyle Charles (Illustrations), Scott A. Ford (Illustrations), Donovan Yaciuk (Illustrations), Andrew Lodwick (Illustrations), Ryan Howe (illustrations)

Thank you to all the creators of this anthology and sharing your stories. We need to remember this history, not just the ‘official’ history of Canada. I shall share these stories when my daughter.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #92 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #GraphicNovel #Canada #NativeAmericans #anthology #comics #Colonialism #historical #IndigenousPeoples #Metis #inuit”,

A Few Notes on the Culture by Iain M. Banks

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:24:03 +0000

A Few Notes on the Culture by Iain M. Banks

Firstly, and most importantly: the Culture doesn’t really exist. It’s only a story. It only exists in my mind and the minds of the people who’ve read about it.

Looking for a void to fill my Culture shaped hole in my soul, I stumbled upon this essay written by Banks that explains many different parts of the Culture that are only mentioned briefly in different books: culture of the Culture, their philosophy, their tech, more info about orbitals, and their politics.

This is for anyone seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the Culture, and the Mind, Banks, who put it all together.

A short but brilliant read that caps off my completion of reading the whole Culture series from 1-10.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #91 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 12:18:07 +0000

“The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks (Culture #10)

“One should never mistake pattern for meaning.”

The last novel in the Culture series. It’s over and I’m feeling a bit sad it’s over, but thankful for the ride I’ve been on over the past year or so. This novel published in 2012 was the last Culture novel as Mr. Banks died in 2013. Enough about my feelings of sadness, onto the novel!

This novel focused on a the Gzilt civilization just about one month before the date they will Sublime. As with most things in the Culture universe, things do not go smoothly. There is a message delivered to the Gzilt, but it is destroyed and not passed on to the population. There are military factions contesting the Sublimation. There are also the scavenger species waiting to pick over the carcass of the Gzilt and find pieces that can improve upon their own civilization.

This novel wasn’t as exciting as some previous novels. There were moments of brilliance, but also many long points where we had ship to ship communication about planning what they should do to interfer, ‘help’, with the investigation into the happenings around Gzilt. There is also lots of traveling around the universe looking for someone who may have information that could unravel some of the mystery of the message that was supposed to be delivered to the Gzilt.

“One should never regret one’s excesses, only one’s failures of nerve.”

This was still a Culture novel, and I ate it up, but I only rate it 4 stars because standing beside other Culture novels it fails to shine brightly.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #90 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #IainMBanks #SciFi #ScienceFiction #TheCulture #Sublime #Gzilt”,

Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 22:12:22 +0000

“Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks (Culture #9)

Now this was a quite strange one, even by The Culture standards. It all begins with a powerful man who kills one of his slaves. Their are other civilizations fighting for the right to have virtual Hells, inside hell. And all the story lines connect at the end, fairly standard Iain M. Banks stuff right?

“Don’t you think it’s hilarious when people think they’re being terribly clever? I know I do. Just as well some of us genuinely fucking are or we’d be in a hell of a fucking state.”

The heart of this book is great, what if some civilizations had a virtual Hell? We even get to ‘see’ inside this virtual Hell through the eyes of some of the characters of the book. I am very happy with the ending of this book. Their is a Special Circumstances Mind who doesn’t really play by the rules that helps one of the characters get some sweet revenge.

“The truth is not always useful, not always good. It’s like putting your faith in water. Yes, we need the rain, but too much can sweep you away in a flood and drown you. Like all great natural, elemental forces, the truth needs to be channeled, managed, controlled and intelligently, morally allocated.” —

I really love The Culture series. I have already jumped into book 10. Sadly, book 10, Hydrogen Sonata, is the last book in the series. What will I read when that is finished? I guess some of the other hundreds of books on my bookshelf, and loaded on my eReader.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #89 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #IainMBanks #SciFi #ScienceFiction #TheCulture #hell”,

Matter by Iain M. Banks

Sun, 22 Aug 2021 11:11:20 +0000

“Matter by Iain M. Banks (Culture #8)

“Even galaxy-spanning anarchist utopias of stupefying full-spectrum civilisational power have turf wars within their unacknowledged militaries.”

This was an incredible Culture novel. Iaian M. Banks still manages to surprise me a little in each new iteration of The Culture series. In this book, we follow the fortunes of the royal court of a low-tech civilization, the Sarl, at war with another similar sort of civilization, Deldeyn. While this sounds rather hum drum, we later learn that these civilizations are on separate levels of a shell world, Sursamen, a mechanical planet with multiple layers all overseen by other more technologically developed civilizations. The conflict is first about the succession of the king, and the war effort. Then it changes once the sister of the successor to the king gets involved, and guess what, she’s part of Special Circumstances.

This was a long setup for a short battle at the end. It wasn’t the most satisfying ending I could’ve imagined. The whole effort seemed a bit rushed when we got near the end, but the setup was wonderful. If you like getting lost in the details of the civilizations, and races of The Culture, you will like this novel. If you are easily confused by complicated names of many different aliens, this one will most likely leave you scratching your head.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #88 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #IainMBanks #SciFi #ScienceFiction #TheCulture”,

The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 12:44:36 +0000

“The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson

1278 pages of my beloved comics from my childhood, The Far Side. The comic that was weird, quirky, and with a healthy streak of dark humour. The comic that wasn’t afraid to poke fun at torture, God, the Devil, and other things humans hold sacred.

One of my favorite comics is one where God is ‘cooking’ up Earth. Behind him there are bottles of ingredients like dark-skinned people, light skinned people, birds. He’s just about finished making the earth and he is shaking one more bottle on the Earth. A big bottle of ‘jerks’. He thinks to himself ‘And just to make things interesting…"”. This is the kind of humour that won Larson praise, and many angry letters from people.

I’m glad that Larson made this monumental collection of all his work. He was a master. He could make you laugh with one frame, and a caption. I see he’s updated his website https://www.thefarside.com/ so go check it out if you’re unfamiliar with his work.

This box set lays out all his comics in roughly chronological order. At the start of every year, he has written an essay about his work and what it was like making comics. I really enjoyed some of the angry letters he put into the book too. Some of the comics have an angry letter, or a letter of praise beside it. They are a delight to read.

I am a tad sad I did not spring for the hard-cover of this box set, but I am still glad I now have this on my bookshelf. Anytime I’m feeling a bit down, or angry at this crazy world, I’ll take it down from the shelf and laugh.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #87 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #GaryLarson #comics #boxset #humour",

The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 11:35:03 +0000

“The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

This was an uncomfortable read about a girl who is anxious about the death of her brother, the stability of her mother & father’s relationship, and her body. I am a stalwart follower of the Man Booker International book prize, and have discovered some amazing authors and books by reading books from the long list. I usually read the almost all the books on the short list and most certainly the eventual winner, but with this book (the 2020 winner!) I held off on reading it for a long time. I’m not sure if it was the dour subject matter, or the equally foreboding book cover. I finally resolved to read the book once I realized this was the only Man Booker International winner I had not read yet.

I tore through this book as it ripping off a band aid from a scabbed over womb. It was at times gross, tantalizing, and erotic. This book tackles unvarnished, and uncomfortable subjects. The death of the brother really affects everyone in the family different. The parents seem to be burying their pain deep while the main character, 10 year old Jas, is worried her parents are drifting apart. She becomes obsessed with sex, because she believes if she can get her parents to ‘lie on top’ of each other, they will stay together. The oldest brother kills animals, and suggest sexual ‘games’ that Jas and him can try. They sometimes bring in the neighbor girl Belle too. When we were all teenagers, we all experimented with sex and our new forbidden body parts, but Jas and her brother, and younger sister take it to extremes. This book perfectly captures the doubts, anxiety, and fears of a young child who is trying to understand death, and is going through puberty, too.

There was lots of discomfort while reading this book, but I don’t think I will be able to easily forget it. This was a book that will be seared on my brain for some weeks to come.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #86 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #death #cows #MariekeLucasRijneveld #Netherlands #farm #ManBookerInternational2020”,

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 11:18:53 +0000

“The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

“This is the story of what a Woman’s patience can endure, and what a Man’s resolution can achieve.”

I am not a big fan of mystery novels. I tried to get into Agatha Christie but found The Murder on the Orient Express quite boring. Quite unlike Wilkie Collin’s mystery novel, The Moonstone, which was a thrilling ride. Even though The Moonstone was written in the 1868, it still was great reading it over 100 years later.

Once I discovered Collins, I have been meaning to read his other popular novel, The Woman in White. I was expecting it to be about a story about a ghost or other supernatural phenomenon but I was wrong. It was still a great read, but nothing about ghosts.

“Any woman who is sure of her own wits, is a match, at any time, for a man who is not sure of his own temper.”

This novel is about an art teacher that gets hired by two sisters who live in the English countryside. One of the sisters will be married off to a nobleman very soon. There are suspicious circumstances that the teacher encounters at the country house which makes him doubt the intentions of the nobleman. The story is told through the diaries and written statements of different characters in the story. Each narrator writes in their own voice about events they know about or were a part of.

“No sensible man ever engages, unprepared, in a fencing match of words with a woman.”

This is a long novel (700 pages), and takes awhile to get interesting but if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a very intricate, and interesting plot. They plot was very well constructed and it took me almost until the end of the book to realize who the villain was, what were their secrets, and final aims. ““The novel was first published in serial form in 1859–60, appearing in Charles Dickens' magazine All the Year Round (UK) and Harper’s Weekly (USA). It was published in book form in 1860."" This would account for the length and wordiness of some of the novel as the magazine would’ve been paying Collins by the word. Also, the manner of speech in the Victorian times is a tad formal, and superfluous at times.

I would not recommend reading this before The Moonstone. If you read the Moonstone, and enjoy Collins' style, then, by all means, please go and give The Woman and White a read.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #85 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #mystery #WilkieCollins #London #detective”,

Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 11:00:22 +0000

“Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks (Culture, #7)

One of the better Culture books in the series. I hate most series of books, but The Culture keeps me coming back for more. This book is about a well hatched plot by an enemy of the Culture to take revenge for an 800 year old injustice. There are three threads in the story: the Chelgrian ambassador going to visit the Culture orbital, the Chelgrian emigre living on the Culture orbital, and a Culture scientist studying flying creatures. These threads we beautifully woven together until everything becomes clear near the end of the book. It’s incredible how Banks can weave together such a dastardly political plot which keeps the reader guessing, and makes you laugh at the great dialogue too. It’s hard to write reviews for books like this because I don’t want to give too much away, so if you want to learn more, read some other reviews people have written.

As with all Culture books, we learn a bit more about the Culture civilization. We learn how people keep themselves busy for entertainment on orbitals. We learn more about the history of past battles with the Culture. We also learn about new species. In this one, we get to know the Chelgrian species. They are a furry, sort of centaur/cheetah like race. We get to look inside the Mind who runs the orbital Masaq' and dig out some of the skeletons in its closet too.

“In the old days people died and that was that; you might hope to see them in heaven, but once they were dead they were dead. It was simple, it was definite. Now … ” He shook his head angrily. “Now people die but their Soulkeeper can revive them, or take them to a heaven we know exists, without any need for faith. We have clones, we have regrown bodies—most of me is regrown; I wake up sometimes and think, Am I still me? I know you’re supposed to be your brain, your wits, your thoughts, but I don’t believe it is that simple.”

This is probably my 2nd favourite novel in the series after The Player of Games. I know if I could live in any fictional universe, it would be The Culture. Their citizens get to enjoy all the excitement of life without the fear of death. They are free of money. They get to live on paradises called orbitals. I wonder if our species will ever make it as far as The Culture civilization? I can only hope.

And, as often happens after reading a thrilling Culture novel, I have already dived right in to #8 Matter.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #84 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #IainMBanks #TheCulture #space”,

Daily Automated Backups with Restic

Wed, 11 Aug 2021 21:43:48 +0000

Restic is a newer backup solution, but far easier to setup than Borg backup, in my humble opinion. This tutorial is to show you how easy it is to setup, and run daily on Yunohost. This tutorial could also be used to setup Restic on Debian or other flavours of Linux.

What is restic?

restic is a backup program that is fast, efficient and secure. It has multithred support. It supports many backends (SFTP, SSH, Amazon S3, Backblaze, etc.) It supports the three major operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows) and a few smaller ones (FreeBSD, OpenBSD).

More info: https://github.com/restic/restic/

Restic user manual: https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/stable/

Setup Your Backup Location

Prepare your backup location whether it be on another computer on the LAN, a USB hard drive, or an internal hard drive.

NOTE: This sort of backup doesn’t protect you against theft, fire, or flood. You should have an offsite backup as well as this local one.

In this example, I am using an internal hard drive that is mounted at: /mnt/backup

Install Restic

# apt-get install restic

You can also download the latest binary from the Github page, or even compile your own binary with Go.

After installing, check that it works with the command: restic version

It will return something like this: restic 0.12.1 compiled with go1.16.6 on linux/amd64

Setup the Repository

A repository (repo) can hold different backups (snapshots) from different users, or even different machines. They can all be backed up in the same repository as long as the user has the right password. In this example I’ve called the repository my-backups.

$ restic init --repo /mnt/backup/my-backups
enter password for new repository:
enter password again:
created restic repository 085b3c76b9 at /mnt/backup/my-backups
Please note that knowledge of your password is required to access the repository. Losing your password means that your data is irrecoverably lost.

NOTE: Make sure you save this password in a password manager. If you lose it, you lose access to all your backups.

More info about setting up repositories, if you want to make an offsite backup - look into using a REST-server.

Make a Backup

Now you will make a test backup of Yunohost Backups folder. You make regular backups using sudo yunohost backup right?

$ restic backup /home/yunohost.backup/archives --verbose --tag yunohost

That’s it! If you run this command again, it will make another snapshot of those files, but it deduplicates the backup so only the files that have changed will be added to the repo.

Check your Backup

Make sure it all works!

$ sudo restic -r /mnt/backup/my-backups snapshots
enter password for repository: 
repository 9f935439 opened successfully, password is correct
ID        Time                 Host        Tags        Paths
===================
c72d2899  2021-07-09 01:00:02  blah.com  yunohost        /home/yunohost.backup/archives
===================
1 snapshot

Automate Your Backups

Since restic deduplicates backups it makes sense to make daily backups of your important data. If you automate your backups, you won’t forget to do it and you’ll have a backup when you really need it!

Setup Password File

Your server needs a password to your repo so it can automate your backups.

cd ~ nano .restic-backup export RESTIC_REPOSITORY=""/mnt/backup/my-backups"" export RESTIC_PASSWORD=""YOURPASSWORDHERE""

Setup a Script

It’s better to have a shell script holding all your backup tasks so they can run one after another. It’s hard to

nano restic-backups
#!/bin/bash
source /home/admin/.restic-backup
restic backup /home/yunohost.backup/archives --tag yunohost
restic backup /home/admin/ --tag home
etc.

Setup a Cron Job for the Script

0 11 * * * root /home/admin/restic-backups

Conclusion

There you go, now you have a simple solution to make daily backups! If you want to go further:

make a script to do ‘prune’ jobs (deleting old backups - i.e. snapshots)
get another computer, and setup an offsite backup using a REST-server (I am doing this and will make another tutorial in the future for it)

NOTE: Restic currently doesn’t have compression on its backups. If you need compression, look into Borg backup.

Here is a comparison between Restic and Borg backup.

In my opinion, hard drive space is so ‘cheap’ and plentiful at the moment, so compression isn’t a very big deal for most. I also believe the simpler user experience of Restic makes it the clear winner.

Just as the best camera is the one you have with you - the best backup is the one you do every single day! If it’s too complicated to make backups, most people won’t bother. I know I struggled to setup Borg backup when I used it in the past. Restic has been such a great thing to use, I can never see myself going back.

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 21:39:05 +0000

“Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

‘All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.’ - Viet Thanh Nguyen

I knew little about Ireland and Northern Ireland before reading this book. I only knew the term ‘The Troubles’ but had no idea what it really meant. This is an incredible book about The Troubles in Northern Ireland from the 60s-90s. It tells the stories of IRA and Provisional IRA members and what it was like to live through those times, and then the transition to ‘peace’. It is about how to move on from a violent time like that, what should you remember? What should you forget? Was it all worth it?

Who should be held accountable for a shared history of violence? It was a question that was dogging Northern Ireland as a whole.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #83 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Ireland #NorthernIreland #history #nonfiction #murder #IRA #Provos”,

The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification by Christopher Hitchens

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 21:24:27 +0000

“The Parthenon Marbles: The Case for Reunification by Christopher Hitchens

This book has an amazing title, but the book suffers from a convoluted narrative which makes reading it a bit of a struggle. This book has been revised many times, and a new foreword by Hitchens has been written, but he hasn’t gone back and edited the whole book as a whole. Hitchens seems like a bit of a blowhard who likes to hear the sound of his own voice, but I shall forgive him as his love for Greece seems genuine. Once you get past the 92 pages of Prefaces, Introductions, and Forewords the actual book begins.

Are the Greeks fit to be the custodians of their own antiquity?

This is the main thrust of the book, should the Parthenon Marbles be returned to Greece and reunited with the building they were stolen from? YES! The Parthenon Marbles aren’t like the other trinkets the British have looted from other countries in the world, they are an integral part of a building still standing in Greece, on a very iconic historical building. The British Museum should just face the fact that Britain has become a 3rd rate country, not even part of the European Union, and is no longer an Imperial Empire. They should magnanimously give back what was stolen to the Greeks and reap the enormous bonhomie that will come back to them from the rest of Europe and especially Greece.

The structure of the book is as follows:

The Parthenon in History
The Elgin Marbles
Restitution Works on the Acropolis Monuments
Appendix 1: The Present Location of the Parthenon Marbles
Appendix 2: The Commons Debate 1816
Appendix 3: The Parthenon Gallery in the New Acropolis Museum

I want to give this 5 stars just for Greece, but it needs editing to make it a better read, more powerful read.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #82 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Parthenon #Greece #ElginMarbles #ParthenonMarbles #History #NonFiction”,

Hellburner by C.J. Cherryh

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:40:12 +0000

“Hellburner by C.J. Cherryh The Company Wars #5

A twisting labyrinth of politics and deception with the new weapons system, Hellburner, at the center of it all. In this story, we have the whole gang from Heavy Time reunited as they rally behind Dekker to pilot the new Hellburner spaceship. What they crew doesn’t know is there is lots of behind the scenes jostling for power and money by the UDC, the Fleet, Earth Company (EC) and others. At times I felt like I was just on the edge of not knowing what’s going on, but it was a tense, and gripping novel all the way through. In comparison to Heavy Time, there is more non-stop action and intrigue in Hellburner, but I really enjoyed the mundane details of asteroid mining, their time off on R2, and how the ASTEX (the company) works. These two books truly do work together.

In the novel, there is some chatter about the enemy, Cyteen, and their robot warriors. I shall have to keep reading more Cherryh novels to become more immersed in this world. I haven’t been this hooked on a series since The Culture series by Iain M. Banks.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #81 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #CJCherryh #CompanyWars #space #Scifi #Sciencefiction #military”,

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination by Sheera Frankel and Cecilia Kang

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:24:26 +0000

Zuck: i have over 4000 emails, pictures, addresses, sns Friend: what!? how’d you manage that one? Zuck: people just submitted it. Zuck: i don’t know why Zuck: they ““trust me”” Zuck: dumb fucks

This will not be an objective review, I detest Facebook. I deleted my account 4 years ago. Facebook for me is the perfect example of all that is wrong with the internet. This is an important book though, that brings together the years from 2015-2020. If you’ve been following Facebook in the news, a lot of this won’t be new to you, but this book does bring together all the elements of the story in a cohesive narrative. This book will be an important historical document to look back upon Facebook in the future.

Facebook’s success ““depends upon one-way-mirror operations engineered for our ignorance and wrapped in a fog of misdirection, euphemism and mendacity”” - Harvard Business School professor Shoshana Zuboff

If you want to read more about Surveilance Capital which Facebook is very much a part of, read Zuboff’s book - The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

The root of the disinformation problem, of course, lay in the technology. Facebook was designed to throw gas on the fire of any speech that invoked an emotion, even if it was hateful speech - its algorithms favored sensationalism. Whether a user clicked on a link because they were curious, horrified, or engaged was immaterial; the system saw that the post was being widely read and it promoted it more widely across users' Facebook pages.

Facebook and systems like it enable and reward the worst instincts in humans: violence, sarcasm, bullying, lust etc.

““It is time to break up Facebook,”” - Hughes, a co founder of Facebook

Breaking up Facebook is an interesting concept, but the problem isn’t Facebook but every internet service like it that sells your data to advertisers.

Even if the company undergoes a radical transformation in the coming years, that change is unlikely to come from within. The algorithm that serves as Facebook’s beating heart is too powerful and too lucrative. And the platform is built upon a fundamental, possibly irreconcilable dichotomy: its purported mission to advance society by connecting people while also profiting off them. It is Facebook’s dilemma and its ugly truth.

This quote is from the conclusion. I’ve read some reviews of this book and they were disappointed there were no solutions to the problem of Facebook. This isn’t that type of book. This is a journalists look at Facebook behind the scenes of it’s many, many missteps from 2015-2020. If you want to read more about how to fix the problem of Facebook, which is really just a symptom of surveillance capitalism, I would really recommend you read ““The Age of Surveillance Capitalism”” by Shoshana Zuboff, and ““Privacy is Power”” by Carissa Véliz.

Also, #DeleteFacebook everybody. Stop feeding the beast.

PS Friendface works along the same lines as a cold or a terrible plague"" [1 min video from the IT Crowd]

Rating: ★★★★

Book #79 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Heavy Time by C.J. Cherryh

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 10:34:33 +0000

“Heavy Time by C.J. Cherryh The Company Wars #4

“Cher. Death is. Pain’s life. And there’s, above all, sons of bitches.” - Meg Kady

This novel is about two asteroid miners in the belt who rescue a survivor from another mining vessel. The story in the foreground is about the miners and how they plan to set off for their next mission to collect ore and deal with this survivor from the wreck. The background story is about the politics of Earth (Earth Company) and ASTEX (MamaBitch) who controls the mining in the asteroid belt.

I really enjoyed this novel. Yes, it gets bogged down a times with lots of conversations about the characters feelings. It should’ve been editing down. It did really convey in a real way what it could actually like to be an asteroid miner, and what the politics of a mining colony in the asteroid belt could look like. She really gets down to details in what the crews do in the mining, and their off time (heavy time) in the mining station. Her grasp on computers is sometimes funny as I am now reading this in 2021 while this was written 20 years ago. Great world building though!

I don’t know why I haven’t heard of her before. This feels like the classic sci-fi written in the 70s & 80s. I am glad to have discovered her and now am endeavoring to read more of the series. Now, hers seems to be a bit of a tricky series for ordering (read below).

Note about the series from Wikipedia:

The Company Wars

According to the author, the novels in this universe, except Heavy Time and Hellburner (which were subsequently re-published in one volume as Devil to the Belt), can be read in any order. Those two books are chronologically the earliest in the series.

Downbelow Station (1981) – Hugo Award winner, Locus Award nominee, 1982
Merchanter’s Luck (1982) (also published in the Alliance Space (2008) omnibus)
Rimrunners (1989) – Locus Award nominee, 1990
Heavy Time (1991)
Hellburner (1992) (Devil to the Belt (2000) – single-volume edition of Heavy Time and Hellburner)
Tripoint (1994)
Finity’s End (1997) – Locus Award nominee, 1998

So it sounds like I did a good thing by picking up Heavy Time first. I really dig the hardcover cover. I now need to read Hellburner. One point others have made about Heavy Time is that there is a lot going on down on Earth but we only hear background chatter about it in this book. Apparently you find out more about those events in the ‘first book’, Downbelow Station.

All-in-all, this was a great book but got bogged down in the middle with too much minutia and superfluous dialogue.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #78 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #asteroid #murder #space #CJCherryh #SciFi #ScienceFiction #CompanyWars”,

Metro 2034 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 18:55:17 +0000

“Metro 2034 by Dmitry Glukhovsky (Metro #2)

It would be hard for any novel to live up to the chilling atmosphere, original premise, and breathtaking action of Metro 2033. This was a sequel to Metro 2033, but it was altogether a different type of novel where the only similarities are the setting and one character: Hunter.

Metro 2034 is a novel about Hunter and his quest to ‘save’ himself, and some others. Along the way he meets up with some different characters that sort of join him on this quest. All the characters are quite flat in this book. Hunter is a killing machine. There is Homer who is an old man who likes to reminisce in the past. There is a wholly forgettable girl who somehow falls in love with, or is obsessed with Hunter. There is also a musician that is a diversion in the story. Anyways, all these characters come together under Hunter to try to save some people in a certain station because they think something has gone wrong.

If you think about the actual action in the story, there isn’t a whole lot. There are lots and lots of pages of Homer, the girl, and the musician talking about the meaning of life, and what their lives could’ve been outside of the metro, etc, etc. It gets old very fast. There was some of this sort of philosophical musing in the original, but just enough to be interesting, not enough to bore you.

I was disappointed with this novel more than anything. I read through it because I was still interested in the Metro world, but the plot of this book leaves much to be desired. I don’t fault an author for pumping out novels to make money (a la Murderbot) but at least keep the quality consistent. I don’t have any appetite to read anymore Metro novels after reading this dud.

Rating: ★★ Book #77 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #PostApocalyptic #future #Scifi #ScienceFiction #metro #subway #underground #monsters #DmitryGlukhovsky”,

The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 18:40:00 +0000

“The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare

“Death commands respect”"

An Italian general and priest are sent to Albania to dig up, and repatriate their dead soldiers who were killed 20 years ago in WWII.

For such a simple ‘premise’ this book is tense, and dark all the way through. As others have said in reviews I have read, the ending isn’t what I expected but still held the story together for me.

There are many conversations throughout the book between the general and the priest about war, death, and the Albanians. There are flashbacks to the generals time before leaving and the weight of the families' expectations to get back their ‘boy’. There are journal entries of the soldiers that we are introduced to them as they are digging them up. The general and priest travel all over the country from little villages to mountain ravines standing watch, as their Albanian workmen dig up corpses for them, all under the watchful glare of the Albanian villagers. Are they inwardly joyful at watching their former enemies dig up their dead? Do they still hate them?

The general is an interesting character. He did not want this job. He is depressed by his task and wishes he could’ve led these troops into battle in Albania. He thinks maybe then there wouldn’t be so many dead to collect.

“I have a whole army of dead men under my command now, he thought. Only instead of uniforms they are all wearing nylon bags. Blue bags with two white stripes and black edging, made to order by the firm of ‘Olympia.’ ”

The priest speaks Albanian. He tells the general about the Albanian psyche and their traditions. He doesn’t speak that much. He also doesn’t drink.

You can feel how tense things are, as the enemy, the Italians, are back in Albania digging up their dead. Is it possible to ever forgive some sins? This is a chilling tale about death, and war. The aftermath of war is sometimes more brutal and difficult than war itself. At least with a real war, it would be over quickly and you’d either be dead or victorious. This endless searching for unmarked graves in a far away country is a difficult mission. You wouldn’t wish such a burdensome task on anyone. I feel exhausted and depressed just reading about it.

I have never been disappointed by a Kadare novel. They all find a way to sear themselves into your mind. After finishing the novel, I did some Wikipedia research on Albanian in WW2, and General Z, and was not surprised to find that this book won the Man Booker International Book prize in 2005.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #76 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #war #Albania #IsmailKadare #death",

Fascism by Mark Neocleous

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 18:25:18 +0000

Fascism by Mark Neocleous

Small, clear and succinct book from the Open University Press: Concepts in Social Sciences about Fascism. It addresses a few very ‘simple’ questions: (1) What is the relationship between fascism, modernity, and capitalism? (2) What is the basis of the fascist attack on Marxism and liberalism? (3) Why is fascism inherently destructive?

I really enjoy books like this. Fascism is a term you hear a lot, but the meaning has gotten muddled and confused over the decades.

This is the sort of book I read, not understanding all parts perfectly, but I am thinking about it for weeks after. Reading this book felt like taking a 1 semester course in Political Science. I hope to find and read more of the books in this series.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #75 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:56:15 +0000

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

This is the Man Booker International 2021 Winner. I started and finished it last night in one sitting. I didn’t realize it is only 145 pages long. This is translated from French.

The story is about Alfa Ndiaye, who is a soldier, from Senegal, in the French military during WW1. This novel captures the madness of trench warfare. The longing for home. The camaraderie of going to war with a ‘brother’. The novel jumps back and forth from his different memories, from the trench, to his memories of Senegal, and what he did.

It’s amazing what the author has been able to do in such a short book. He could’ve fluffed this up a lot to hit a 200-300 page book to please his publisher, but he kept it succinct. This book feels like being in the mind of a soldier when he’s on his deathbed and thinking about the most intense period of his life, the war. All his regrets, and actions are laid bare without explanation or justification.

““Yes, I understood, God’s truth, that on the battlefield they wanted only fleeting madness. Madmen of rage, madmen of pain, furious madmen, but temporary ones. No continuous madmen. As soon as the fighting ends, we’re to file away our rage, our pain, and our fury. Pain is tolerated, we can bring our pain home on the condition that we keep it to ourselves. But rage and fury cannot be brought back to the trench. Before returning home, we must denude ourselves of rage and fury, we must strip ourselves of it, and if we don’t we are no longer playing the game of war. Madness, after the captain blows the whistle to retreat, is taboo.””

This novel is so short and moves from one thing to the next so quickly I would highly recommend you read this in one sitting.

The Man Booker International Prize has been hit and miss for me lately, but this one seems like a great novel. I am not sure why it has sub-3 star ratings on GoodReads, but I really enjoyed the journey it took me on.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #73 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:48:43 +0000

“Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Metro #1

Incredible sci-fi set in a post-apocalyptic world where the only humans to survive are those who were lucky enough to be caught in the Moscow subway system when the nukes came raining down. Humans survive on pork and mushrooms. Humans are under constant attack by ‘monsters’ from the surface that make incursions into the subway system. Are there any survivors outside of the Moscow Metro? We don’t know.

The atmosphere is just great in this one. It’s creepy, and you can feel the sense of claustrophobia when the main character walks from station to station. I am a very visual person, so I printed a Moscow subway map so I could follow where the characters were going. This isn’t necessary, but I think it’s cool to see where the real subway stations are. Sometimes when he describes some of the subway stations, I would hop on my phone and look at a picture of the real station. If you didn’t know, Moscow has a very beautiful subway system so check it out!

I like the ideas that he plays with in this story. Will humans every work together? What cults take hold of people’s imagination? Do we lose our humanity, or draw closer together?

The main plot is that Artyom has to deliver a message to a certain person in a certain station. Along the way he meets many different characters and sees all sorts of different governments in the different stations. He gets in lots of scrapes but miraculously, through fate, or the help of others, survives. Once he does deliver the message, the mission changes.

I was enthralled with this one from the beginning. This is the sort of book you need to curl up with in bed with the lights really low and read by yourself.

I have started reading the sequel Metro 2034. I don’t have very high hopes for it, but it will be in the same world which I enjoyed so it shouldn’t be that bad.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #72 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #DmitryGlukhovsky #PostApocalyptic #Moscow #Future #SciFi #ScienceFiction”,

The Parthenon by Mary Beard

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:27:03 +0000

“The Parthenon by Mary Beard

I’ve never yet been disappointed by a Mary Beard book, and this book is no exception.

Beard takes us through not just the history of the Parthenon, its construction, use throughout the years, but also touches on the myths and stories associated with the building. Why is it famous? What have others said about in the past? and of course gets into the largest controversy in the past 250 years, the Elgin Marbles, which rightly ought to be called the Parthenon Marbles.

It was interesting reading about the times when the Parthenon was used as a church and as a mosque because the Byzantine time period has been glossed over when the new myth of the Greek state as being a continuation of ancient Greece was invented. I understand why it was done, but it’s not good to forget your history.

This book has lots of illustrations, diagrams, and photos in it as well. I made a point to buy a paper copy of this book so I could enjoy these to the fullest.

As with all of Beard’s books, she has a lovely Further Reading section at the back of the book which explains the sources she has used, and suggests other sources for those interested in learning more.

The cover of the edition I read was awful though. Beard looks like she’s grimacing and not at all happy. I’m not sure if she chose that picture, or the publisher chose for her. Either way, it is the only detraction from a stellar book.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #71 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #MaryBeard #Parthenon #AncientGreece #History”,

Inversions by Iain M. Banks

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 12:16:36 +0000

“Inversions by Iain M. Banks

(Culture #6)

There seem to be two lines of thinking about this book: one that this is not really a Culture book because of the absence of ‘sci-fi’ elements, while others say it’s the best goddamned culture book because it’s beauty is its subtlety.

I have read lots of reviews on GoodReads about this and think it’s a great novel, but not my favourite Culture novel.

Description from the publisher: On a backward world with six moons, an alert spy reports on the doings of one Dr. Vosill, who has mysteriously become the personal physician to the king, despite being a foreigner and, even more unthinkably, a woman. Vosill has more enemies than she first realizes. But then she also has more remedies to hand than those who wish her ill can ever guess.

Elsewhere, in another palace across the mountains, a man named DeWar serves as chief bodyguard to the Protector General of Tassasen, a profession he describes as the business of ““assassinating assassins.”” DeWar, too, has his enemies, but his foes strike more swiftly, and his means of combating them are more direct.

None trust the doctor, while the bodyguard trusts no one, but what is the hidden commonality linking their disparate histories? Spiraling around a central core of mystery, deceit, love, and betrayal…”"

There are lots of common themes in the two stories, and similarities between the two main characters. There are even love stories but they don’t take the focus off of the deceit and betrayals in these different kingdoms.

“Truth, I have learned, differs for everybody. Just as no two people ever see a rainbow in exactly the same place - and yet both most certainly see it, while the person seemingly standing right underneath it does not see it at all - so truth is a question of where one stands, and the direction one is looking in at the time.”

After reading other reviews, it makes sense that the two main characters might actually be Culture agents tasked with keeping the two leaders alive, the King, and the Protector (hints in the Epilogue). The Culture does sometimes carefully intervene in worlds if they think it’s in the best interest of the Culture.

I enjoyed this novel and couldn’t put it down once I got near the end. It’s a great ending that pulls all the elements together. I’ll be thinking about this for a while to unravel the subtle story lines that Banks has put together here. This is certainly the most unique Culture I’ve read thus far. It has all the things I love in an Iain M. Banks story - dark humour, interesting dialogue, and compelling conflicts. This is a solid 5 star story, but don’t come into it expecting it to be like the other Culture novels.

““You can draw the blinds in a brothel, but people still know what you’re doing.”

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #70 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Culture #IainMBanks #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Medieval”,

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 09:11:15 +0000

“No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

I usually steer far clear of business books. They usually are stuffy, poorly written, and humorless affairs, not this one though. Netflix co founder Hastings writes with candor about Netflix’s success and failures as they tried to navigate being a creative technology company. There is humour and concrete examples throughout the book. This book feels so genuine and so bereft of bullshit and long sentences filled with academic language. This book is part biography of Netflix, and part useful lessons Netflix has learned along the way in how to run their company, the ‘special sauce’ if you will.

The main takeaway from the book is that we don’t need to run companies like they are factories in the industrial revolution. For companies who are creating creative products, which is many, many companies out there, we need to start ditching the controls of factories.

“If you have a team of five stunning employees and two adequate ones, the adequate ones will sap managers’ energy, so they have less time for the top performers, reduce the quality of group discussions, lowering the team’s overall IQ, force others to develop ways to work around them, reducing efficiency, drive staff who seek excellence to quit, and show the team you accept mediocrity, thus multiplying the problem.”"

This is one of the quotes that hit me hard. We have this problem at our workplace. I feel I’m one of the stunning employees and feel demotivated working beside dummies. The problem with my workplace is that we can’t afford to hire the best. So, we will have to just trying praying every time we hire a new person, keep them from quitting, and push the others out the door as fast as possible.

This is where a lot of Reed’s arguments fall apart. If you can’t afford to pay the top dollar for the best employees it will be difficult to implement a lot these points of the Netflix method. The first one is ‘high talent density’, which is pay your best employees well, and get rid of the just ‘OK’ employees.

This is not to say the book is useless, you can still take things away from this book, but very few companies would be able to copy every single point in this book. I like his snappy, easy-to-remember catch phrases for a lot of the points they make: the keeper test, the 4 A’s, no ‘brilliant jerks’ and lead with context. I don’t want to spoil the book, and I won’t be able to explain it adequately so you’ll just have to read the book to find out more about these phrases.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #69 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #ReedHastings #ErinMeyer #Netflix #business #NonFiction",

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 08:12:56 +0000

" Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro It started off great, but never got as interesting as it felt it should. There were lots of interesting hints of topics it might explore, but they stayed around the edges as if only superficial window dressing. This novel had the possibility to as deep as Never Let Me Go but turned out to be a pale imitation.

The main character of this book is an AF, artificial friend. Now, why do children need these? That is only hinted at. This AF learns about the world by looking out the window and eventually ends up with a family to be the companion of a little girl. There are two sorts of children - lifted and not, and we don’t find out much about it at all. Why? How? There is very little world-building here. I think this novel could’ve been so much better if we understood a bit more about the world these AF’s are a part of. There was also the part about ‘communities’ for adults, which are somehow different than having a job? That was also never explained as well.

Now, I am not a fan of this author, nor an enemy, but have had trouble understanding the praise heaped upon him. I’m glad the fanboys haven’t piled into the ratings on Goodreads. This novel is a comfortable 3 star novel. It was interesting, light, perfect for the beach. It stays in your thoughts for a few days, but then fades. Most of all I keep thinking, this novel could’ve been so much more. It just didn’t do it for me.

Rating: ★★ Book #68 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #KazuoIshiguro #SciFi #future #ScienceFiction #Fiction",

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 19:34:21 +0000

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells The Murderbot Diaries #6

Another decent installment in the Murderbot Diaries. It was an enjoyable read. If you’ve read previous stories in the series, you know exactly what to expect.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #67 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Leaves of Grass (1855 edition) by Walt Whitman

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 19:29:38 +0000

“Leaves of Grass (1855 edition) by Walt Whitman

It seems to me that everything in the light and air ought to be happy; Whoever is not in his coffin and dark grave, let him know he has enough.

I‘m not one to read lots of poetry but after hearing about this book in many contexts, mentioned in books & movies, I thought I’d check it out. It was not at all what I was expecting. His poetry is long, joyful, and free from conventions of rhyme. Some of the poems were really great, and some seemed to go on too long.

This is the Dover Thrift Original 1855 edition. It’s only 128 pages. I’ve seen some editions of Leaves of Grass are over 600 pages. So, I’m not sure if Whitman added way more poems to his book over the years, or there is just lots more commentary in it. I shall have to read the Original / Deathbed Edition now to check it out.

EDIT: After further investigation, it seems Whitman added more poems. For example, his famous poem about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, ““O Captain! My Captain””, wasn’t written until 1865. Now I’m secure in my conviction that I need to read the Deathbed Edition.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #66 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #poetry #WaltWhitman #joyful”,

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 21:51:38 +0000

“Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

An unvarnished look at the morally dubious actions of the CIA from its inception to now. They sure spent an awful lot of money, to assassinate, and install some terrible people in governments all over the world. This is not the CIA you see in movies. It’s actually really sad how they are spending so much money on the CIA and not being very effective. Now some will argue that we only hear about their failures, and not their successes. I believe there may be some truth to that, but very, little truth.

This history shows us a CIA that doesn’t really know it’s purpose. Ever president seems to struggle how to utilize the CIA, is it a secret ops force used to start military coups? (that seems to have been its main purpose after reading this book!) is it to gather intelligence about terrorists? or about North Korea? It seems like a rudderless organization.

It boggles my mind to think about the billions of dollars that the CIA spends every year. Even though they have a fraction of the money of the military, they still get billions. If only humans invested in schools, libraries, and the environment instead of bombs. This is the second book in a row that made me sad, the first being Witness Palestine. That being another book about a place Americans are pouring millions into supporting a morally reprehensible apartheid state.

It was a good read though. You get a feel for the politics of the CIA, and their relationship (or lack thereof) with the President. It makes me think, how do you run a secret intelligence service well?

President Eisenhower in 1959: ““This agency demands of its members the highest order of dedication, ability, trustworthiness, and selflessness-to say nothing of the finest type of courage, whenever needed. Success cannot be advertised: failure cannot be explained. In the work of intelligence, heroes are undecorated and unsung.””

David Kay, CIA’s chief weapons inspector: ““Wars are not won by intelligence. They’re won by the blood, treasure, courage of the young men and women that we put in the field… What intelligence really does when it is working well is to help avoid wars””

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #65 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #TimWeiner #war #CIA #spy #USA #journalism #NonFiction”,

Witness in Palestine: A Jewish Woman in the Occupied Territories by Anna Baltzer

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:03:13 +0000

“Witness in Palestine: A Jewish Woman in the Occupied Territories by Anna Baltzer

“”…What would you do if the wall were closing in on you? What would you do if your brother was dead, your father was in prison, and you couldn’t get a job or go to school? What you do if your food sources were uprooted and people in neighboring settlements urinated and defecated in your water source? What would you do if working for change within the system failed you again and again? What would you do if you have nothing left? Remember, the walls are getting closer…What would you expect from yourself in that situation, and how does it compare with what you expect of the Palestinians today?”"

I was shaken and angry after reading this. I’ve read many boot on the occupation but never a boots on the ground account of the daily humiliation, violence, and suffering endured by the Palestinians.

This is written in 2004 by a Jewish-American volunteer in Palestine. Sadly, I don’t think much has changed. The title is very fitting because we all have to witness what Israel is doing. They only get away with things because we let them. This book is written as a journal. I’ve read many books about Israel-Palestine but this one really hits home because each journal entry is a focused look at the Palestinians families suffering in the conflict. They aren’t just people, they are families, and neighbors. There are lots of pictures of the people in her stories too. It’s hard not to be moved by such a heartfelt journal. Baltzer is very brave in the face of Israeli soldiers, but just imagine how much more brave the Palestinians who face this intimidation and violence everyday.

It’s a very good book but it’s a hard book to read because it’s so frustrating what is happening and the feeling that nobody cares. I could only read a chapter or two a day and then got too angry to continue. The money that America is pouring into Israel boggles my mind. No wonder America ‘can’t afford’ healthcare, they’re spending too much on guns & bombs. Sickening.

How can Israel, a nation full of Jews, who were once persecuted, tortured, and killed by Nazi now be the evil villain? How can they spray paint stars of David on Palestinian houses? How can they write ““death to Arabs”” on their houses?Have they no sense of history? Have they no sense of shame? I can not understand it. If God told them to treat Palestinians like animals, I want no part of their God or religion. As I feel my blood pressure rising, I will leave you with some great quotes from the book, and try to calm down.

“”…effects the Occupation has had on Israelis. The Nuremberg Principles - developed during the Nuremburg trials of Nazi party members after World War II - state that any person who commits a crime under international law is responsible for his actions and subject to punishment, regardless of his country’s laws at the time, and regardless of whether he was following the orders of his government or his superiors. The Occupation is not protecting the future of Israelis; it has turned Israel’s youth into participants in war crimes""

Israel is not a democracy.

““If it wanted to be a democracy, Israel would have to evolve from being the state only of the Jews to being a state of its citizens and occupants. But that remains a radical idea for most””

““Occupation is not a transitional stage; it’s a strategic limbo between annexation and withdrawal in which the occupier enjoys control over territory and its resources without having to grant inhabitants equal rights and freedoms.””

““According to the Oslo Accords signed by both Israel and the PLO in 1993, there should have been a Palestinian state by 1998. During those 5 interim years, however, Israel instead appropriated more land, nearly doubled the number of settlements, and managed to violate every single clause of the agreement. When will the US demand that Israel adhere to previous agreements in order to receive the billions of US tax-dollars handed over every year?””

Adnan: ““How can Israel call itself a democracy when I cannot go to my land simply because I am a different ethnicity from my Jewish neighbors?””

““this is ethnic cleansing, which the US State Department defines as ‘the systematic and forced removal of the members of an ethnic group from communities in order to change the ethnic composition of a given region.’ Israel’s version of ethnic cleansing is reminiscent of the displacement of the American Indians in North America””

Great link with many current news stories: https://thenewinquiry.com/palestine-is-free-if-you-want-it/

coalitionofwomen.org

https://bdsmovement.net/

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #64 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #AnnaBaltzer #Israel #Palestine #MiddleEast #journalism #NonFiction",

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni

Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:32:01 +0000

“The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni

Illustrator: Kensuke Okabayashi

A very fun read about an important topic: 5 ways a team can be dysfunctional. As a manager at work, I need to read more literature like this to help me manage my teams better.

I think this presents the topic in a very quick and approachable way. I’m not sure how the manga edition compares to the normal book. I will certainly browse the book now that I have a good overview of the concepts from the manga. I feel some of the meatier parts were glossed over the manga, which is to be expected.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #63 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #PatrickLencioni #manga #business #work #teams”,

Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 23:04:37 +0000

“Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim

A North Korean spy is living in South Korea for 20+ years, and is settled into his comfortable family life. A slow burn of a spy novel. This is not about his daring exploits as a spy, but what to do when you get the order to go back?

He doesn’t know who to trust. Should he go? Are they going to execute him or is he merely getting new orders? He explores all the options, and ties up loose ends before making his final decision.

This novel shows that the spy doesn’t exist in a bubble, it details the struggles of his wife, child, his spy ‘workmates’, and his friends who are unaware of his murky past.

Frankly, I’m not sure why this has such low reviews. I guess people were thinking ““spy novel”” and this didn’t fit their preconceived notion of what it was going to be like. I loved it. Don’t come into this book expecting John Le Carre. This is about a spy, a man, a father, and husband with divided loyalties - his country, his homeland, and his family.

PS the cover is great too!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #62 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Young-HaKim #spy #NorthKorea #SouthKorea #KoreanLit #TranslatedFiction”,

The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 21:17:50 +0000

The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei

Gritty detective stories in Hong Kong centered around a great detective, Kwan Chun-dok, at various times throughout his distinguished career. This novel is a series of short stories, that are not in chronological order. I hesitate to compare this to Sherlock Holmes, but at times it sort of feels like that. The main character has a way of looking through the evidence and seeing what’s really happening.

Each short story is occurring at an important time in Hong Kong’s history. It’s nice the author places the cases in different times, and the cases certainly are a reflection of the time they are set in.

I wish I could find other English novels by this author but it seems hard to find his novels in English. I don’t often get excited by detective novels, but I really, really enjoyed this one. I will keep searching for more books by this author.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #61 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Scales of Injustice. The Complete Fiction of Loā Hô.

Sat, 19 Jun 2021 16:06:41 +0000

“Scales of Injustice. The Complete Fiction of Loā Hô.

Lōa Hô (also Lai He, 1894-1943) was a pioneering writer from Taiwan often called the ‘father of New Taiwanese Literature’. As a doctor during the colonial period in Taiwan, Loa witnessed the cruelty of Japanese rule and wrote stories which display both his sense of justice and social insight. His writing often utilized irony and satire to criticize the status quo, and his work provides a fascinating window into the struggle for Taiwanese self-determination during the early twentieth century.

Scales of Injustice contains the complete fiction of Loa Hô, with an expert introduction from Pei-yin Lin and explanatory notes by translator Darryl Sterk.

A very rare book to find in English. So, I ended up buying it from the publisher, Honford Star, for a very reasonable price. They are a smaller publisher that is focused on publishing books from East Asia.

For anyone interested in the what life was like for the ‘common man’ during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, this is a good place to start.

I didn’t find the earlier stories as interesting as the later ones. The footnotes are very extensive, befitting the importance of this book to Taiwanese literature.

Note about the author’s name: His name is Lōa Hô in Taiwanese, and Lai He 賴和 in Mandarin.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #60 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #LaiHe #TaiwaneseLit #Taiwan #ColonialWriting #Fiction #ShortStory #LōaHô”,

Expert System Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 21:36:36 +0000

Expert System Series by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I have read lots of books by Tchaikovsky. They have been amazing, intellectually demanding experiences and very, very long books. This book is good, not as difficult to get into, but for me, a bit less rewarding than his Children of Time series.

The Expert System’s Brother

This is where we are introduced to the world. For quite a lot of the book, I was wondering if I had accidentally starting reading a book by a different author. This was a slow burn and took awhile to get interesting. I enjoyed the bit of confusion I had reading until things started to reveal themselves. It’s a strange story. It’s about a planet with people who live in close symbiosis with a tree and wasp hive. They care for each other. They are human, but not quite. It’s an odd planet.

Rating: ★★★ Book #58 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Expert System’s Champion

This one jumps ahead 10 years from the first one, and continues the story of the brother and his sister with their tribe. There is almost continuous conflict in this book. The revelation of what the planet is, and some of the things that inhabit the planet reminded me that I was reading a Tchaikovsky book. I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first one, but the first one needed to be read to enjoy the second.

Both these books were excellent but I would say they are Tchaikovsky’s lighter works. I imagine his publisher might have pushed him a bit to make some more accessible books for readers. These certainly were accessible, and short. They were a fun ride but really left me wanting more…well more of his Children of Time series.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #59 in my 2021 Reading Challenge

Asterix and the Actress by Albert Uderzo

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 15:47:31 +0000

Asterix and the Actress by Albert Uderzo

(Astérix #31)

I had fond memories of Asterix from my childhood. I used to go to the library with my parents and leave with a huge bag of books to devour at home. Sadly, this is not as good as the earlier Asterix books that I remember.

The plot is quite ridiculous, and it goes from here to there so quickly you can’t understand what’s happening (or just don’t care).

After poking around in the comments on Goodreads, it seems the books by the creator, Rene Goscinny, are much better than the ones made by Albert Uderzo. This means you should only read Asterix #1-24. So the next time I’m thinking of buying an Asterix book from the used bookstore, I will make sure it is by Goscinny, not Uderzo.

You have been warned!

Rating: ★★

Book #57 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 21:30:13 +0000

“The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili

‘And why did she die?’ ‘Because the world is a dung heap and most people are pieces of cow shit.’

A sprawling, epic, look at a family from 1900 to the present. A deep look at the lives at 7 women through war, love, communism, boyfriends, husbands, lovers, and chocolate. Yes, a secretive chocolate recipe plays a large role in this family’s history.

The story moves from one character to the next, with grace. There are many, many characters but I never felt lost. I felt I knew these women by the end of this book. At first this book seems like a lovely historical fiction novel about Russian & Georgian history, but 3/4 through, you see how the narrator is telling this story to someone in the present. This book is for Brillka.

Get ready to spend many long nights working through this novel. It is 944 pages, but I didn’t feel like I was slogging through such a long novel. Every chapter opens with a little quote that is relevant to the chapter. It’s a beautiful touch. I have so many highlights made in this book on my Kobo.

There has been war for two thousand years. A war without reason or sense. War is a thing of youth. A medicine for wrinkles. ZOI

I will need to spend time researching all the historical events that happen in this book now. I realize I know very, very little about Russian history, especially the Russian Revolution.

We decide what we want to remember and what we don’t. Time has nothing to do with it. Time doesn’t care.

A touching book about memory, our family history, and the trauma of love, war, friendships, and just living.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #56 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #TranslatedFiction #Nino Haratischwili #Fiction #RussianHistory #HistoricalFiction #Georgia #Russia “,

Hench by Natalie Zina Walscots

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 07:22:14 +0000

“Hench by Natalie Zina Walscots

A book that defies classification; is it a superhero book? a love story? a book about work? I really enjoyed this strange novel. I’ll try to describe it.

It starts off as a book about a woman working at a temp agency. She is working at a special temp agency, one that specializes in working with villains. That’s right! In this world, there are superheroes, and villains. The villains need temps (henchmen) to do all sorts of things like, payroll, data entry, and more specialized jobs too.

“”…the idea that forcing anyone with powers to choose superheroism or be labeled a villain is deeply flawed.”"

Then the main character has a run-in with a hero and her life changes. Her opinion of superheroes changes too. She goes deeper into the hench world.

“To seek vengeance and power instead of cowering when the world punishes you. That’s what they think evil is, do they not?”

I was rooting for the villains throughout the whole book. This book is funny, sarcastic, and full of expletives. Vengeance is at the core of this book, but along the way heroes and villains fall in love, and relationships are made and broken.

“Anna, we’re the bad guys.” “That doesn’t mean we’re inconsiderate dicks.”

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #55 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #NatalieZinaWalscots #superheroes #Fiction #Villains #comicbook",

The Atlas of Flags by Federico Silvestri

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 22:31:00 +0000

“The Atlas of Flags by Federico Silvestri

Flags excite me. They are so full of meaning, and history. I bought this ‘for my kids’, but of course it’s really for me. This book doesn’t cover all the flags in the world because that would be impossible. It does go through the history of flags, and the terminology. Then it discusses important flags and flag families. Some flags are related to others because of how they were created, and/or of the color schemes they use.

If you enjoy history and flags, you will like this book. It’s aimed at the elementary school student, but any curious adult will get lots of knowledge out of it.

I appreciate that they authors also included Taiwan’s flag in the book, albeit on the China page.

I bought this book at the Big Bad Wolf Book Fair. That fair has been cancelled for the past 2 years because of the virus. I really, really hope it comes back so I can find other gems like this to fill my bookshelf.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #54 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #flags #history #NonFiction”,

The Colosseum by Keith Hopkins

Tue, 25 May 2021 21:40:49 +0000

Mary Beard",“The Colosseum by Keith Hopkins, Mary Beard

I am a big fan of Roman & Greek ancient history, so this is an automatic must-read for me. It’s interesting how she tells the story of such an iconic building from thousands of years ago right up to the present. It has been neglected, used for gladiator battles, and even for bull fights. Reading this book gave me the feeling I had when walking around Rome - the feeling that my humble feet are walking the same streets that emperors and gladiators walked on. There is history all around us.

The next Mary Beard book I have in my reading queue is The Parthenon which is another iconic historical building I have visited. Judging from the reviews, that book should be even better than this one.

Recently, I’ve been diving into history books to escape the nightmare the present has become. I shall soon run out of Mary Beard books to read!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #53 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #MaryBeard #KeithHopkins #rome #history”,

Step Aside

Sun, 23 May 2021 21:31:36 +0000

Pops by Kate Beaton",“Step Aside, Pops by Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant #2)

More bookish comics from Beaton. Sadly, this collection didn’t make me laugh out loud as much as her first book, hence the 3 star review. Was it still worth a read? Of course.

I really liked the Wonder Woman comics. I am on a sort of comic kick at the moment. I am currently eyeing the Complete Far Side collection, but the price of the hardcover is staggering. I shall have to keep lusting after it from afar.

Rating: ★★★ Book #52 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #KateBeaton #comic #HarkAVagrant”,

How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein

Fri, 21 May 2021 23:37:47 +0000

Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks by Witold Szabłowski, “,“How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks by Witold Szabłowski,

Wonderful exploration of the memory of some of the most brutal dictators the world has ever encountered, as told by their personal chefs. All that genocide, and torture sure makes those men hungry, and sometimes we often forget that these terrible humans are still humans.

The stories are quite incredible. Some of the chefs still adore the former dictator they worked for while others feared him. It was interesting hearing these intimate stories of the behind the scenes daily life of these terrible people.

For example, I loved the tales of how Saddam Hussein was a jokester with his chef. He would yell at the chef if the food was not to his liking and make him pay 50 dinars to him for the food he wasted. Of course, on other days where he loved the food, he might tip him 150 dinars.

Witold is great at packaging these stories in a readable narrative. I liked how his chapter titles were all related to the the favorite food of the dictator and laid out to resemble a menu.

I was first introduced to this author through his book ““Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny””. Witold has a real knack for this sort of historical/ethnographic journalism.

This book really reminded me to a bunch of other books about dictators by another Polish journalist, Ryszard Kapuściński. If you liked this book, I bet you’d probaby enjoy Kapuscinski’s ““Shah of Shahs”" and ““The Emperor”".

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #49 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #WitoldSzablowski #dictator #cooking #journalism #FidelCastro #SaddamHussein #NonFiction

Total Reading time: 3hr17min”,

My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror by Thomas Ligotti

Fri, 21 May 2021 23:18:14 +0000

“My Work is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror by Thomas Ligotti

A dark, and hilarious set of horror stories about office life. There are 3 short stories in this, but the first one is the best.

The first story is about a disgruntled office worker that takes out his revenge in a bloody, and satisfying manner after being fired.

“The company that employed me strived only to serve up the cheapest fare that the customer would tolerate, churn it out as fast as possible, and charge as much as they could get away with. If it were possible to do so, the company would sell what all businesses of its kind dream about selling, creating that which all of our efforts were tacitly supposed to achieve: the ultimate product – Nothing. And for this product they would command the ultimate price – Everything.”

What the heck genre is this? Corporate horror? Whatever it is, it is gruesome, and bloody satisfying.

All you swineys sitting there at the office trying to out swine your office mates to get promoted; YOU.NEED.TO.READ.THIS.

With COVID and all this crap going on in the world, we need a dark indulgence to satisfy our primal urges of revenge and murder.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #48 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #ThomasLigotti #work #horror #ShortStory

Total Reading Time: 2hr53min”,

Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare

Fri, 21 May 2021 23:07:59 +0000

“Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare

This one has a very Kafkaesque feel to it. A massive bureaucratic apparatus setup to harvest/monitor the dreams of the populace. They are searching for the ‘master dream’ that will predict the future of the Empire.

“Who can say it’s not what we see with our eyes open that is distorted, and that what’s described here isn’t the true essence of things?” He slowed down outside a door. “Haven’t you ever heard old men sigh that life’s a dream?”

Some of the metaphors of Albania are lost on me, but most of the truths about oppressive governments are universal.

I like Kadare’s writing style. His stories feel like fables but with no happy endings.

I bought this book while browsing Bookman Bookstore in Taipei. I always make a point to buy books from local booksellers to support them.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #47 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #IsmailKadare #Albania #dystopian”,

Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman

Mon, 17 May 2021 17:42:26 +0000

“Theory of Bastards by Audrey Schulman

Firstly, whoever came up with the cover to this novel should be thrown out the nearest window. The cover has absolutely nothing to do with the book except that the propagandist is a female. This horrible book cover put me off of reading this book for a long time. I’m not sure who the cover is trying to appeal to, but I think someone who sees the cover and thinks this will be a romantic novel, will be sorely disappointed and may throw themselves out the nearest window.

Once you get past the cover, this book is very, very good. It is about a female researcher who is studying the mating habits of bonobos monkeys (apes?). The story follows her research of the monkeys, and her lab assistant. There are flashbacks of her life, where you learn about her experience with pain and relationships. Near the end, this book does a complete U-turn and turns into a sort of The Road with monkeys? It is bizarre but works really well.

This is the type of book that defies categorization. Is it a dystopian novel? A romantic novel? General fiction about a woman’s life? It’s hard to describe to your friends, but it was a wonderful read. Too often you open a novel and sort of know what you are getting into, but not with this book. I read reviews and they said the novel was good, but it didn’t get into the plot. I’m glad I didn’t investigate it too thoroughly before reading it. It’s nice to be surprised sometimes.

It was also interesting how the author gave references at the back of the book. You don’t often find a further reading section in most novels. It is nice though; it really shows you that the author did their research, and gives you a place to go and learn more about the topics touched upon in the novel

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #46 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #AudreyShulman #pain #bonobos #dystopian “,

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt

Mon, 17 May 2021 17:41:06 +0000

Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt

This is a fascinating study on how a person caught up in an authoritarian regime can defend what they did. It Though Arendt is a Jewish person, she argues for and against Eichmann. She tries to understand why he did it, and how much of it he was actually responsible. It’s a difficult web to untangle. She analyzes the defense and questions things the prosecution brought up, or didn’t bring up.

“The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.”

Some chapters circle back and look at things from a fresh angle, but I think they only do this because these chapters were actually newspaper articles that were coming out at the same time as the trial was c.

After reading this, I feel like I was in that courtroom and understand the case pretty well. I was too young to live through the cases after World War 2, but it makes you think, how can you judge people for the inhuman things they do? Do we just hang them all? Is that justice? Shouldn’t we, as a species, try to understand what went wrong so that it never happens again?

It looks like the Jewish people, who created the Israeli state, haven’t really learned much from their persecution. They persecute the Palestinians without any sense of irony. It’s like they are enacting their own policy of Lebensraum, to get more living space for Israelis.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #45 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

Mon, 17 May 2021 17:36:17 +0000

“If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

Very entertaining read. It tackles a lot of issues women face in South Korea, in a fictional story about orphans who are struggling to make it. They have the burden of societal expectations on them, family pressure, and poor options available to them.

The issues it explores include the sex industry (salon bars), the divide between rich and poor, women’s rights in the workplace, and marriage/childbirth expectations.

By the end of this story, I really identified with these girls. It’s hard living in a big city like Seoul, with the pressures of culture, being a woman, and your family bearing down on you. It wasn’t too preachy. It’s a light, and easy to read novel.

I put off reading this for a bit because the cover had me thinking it would be a ridiculous love story like Crazy Rich Asians (even though I haven’t read that book either, but watched the movie instead).

I lived in South Korea before for it’s always nice reading books set in Seoul.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #44 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #Women #SouthKorea #Fiction”,

Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town by Mary Beard

Mon, 17 May 2021 17:28:26 +0000

“Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town by Mary Beard

Another incredible book by Mary Beard. I really appreciate her concise writing, with witty commentary. She is not a stuffy, boring history writer. She delves into the everyday topics of how the people in Pompeii lived. She talks about food, sex, death, architecture, roads, public baths, religion, and more. It seems I’m bingeing on books about the Roman empire lately. I recently finished Mary Beard’s book, SPQR as well.

She has beautiful color photographs and lots of other black and white illustrations. This allows her to show you what she’s discussing.

For those who might find themselves actually visiting the ruins of Pompeii, the last chapter are suggestions of routes to see and how to best appreciate the city.

As with all her books, she also has an excellent Further Reading section where she explains where to find more information of the topics she discusses in the book.

I can feel her passion for Rome when I read her books. She likes to poke holes in other theories by other academics that have little empirical basis behind them. She does this in a funny, and playful manner. I always laugh out loud at some of her wit while I read her books. She finds a way to make the past relevant to the reader. I really appreciate her. Thank you Mary Beard.

I have only read three of her books Women & Power, SPQR, and Pompeii but she is quickly becoming one of my favorite history writers.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #43 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #MaryBeard #Rome #Pompeii #history “,

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 11:09:26 +0000

“SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

This is not your typical history book, and that was very refreshing. This is the 2nd book by Mary Beard I’ve read. I have read Women & Power, but that’s a wholly different (but excellent!) book. This book is not written as most history books are that plod from historical event to event, with many dates, and Great People of history doing this and that. She analyzes different events in Rome, in a chronological order. She gives clear insight, and commentary on the different events in Rome’s history, and their significance. She explains history, in plain English, and doesn’t just recount what happened.

I really appreciated this style. She makes the large themes, and culture of Roman history make sense. Do I know everything that happened in the Punic war? No, but I have a general sense of the importance and consequences of it. If you really want to dig into certain parts of Roman history, you will have a good grasp of the ebb and flow of the Roman Empire. She makes history interesting. She makes it funny. There were many parts I laughed out loud at.

Now, I don’t want you to think this book is not detailed and well-researched, because it is. But when you are taking the 500 year history of an empire spanning half the globe, you understandably cannot write about everything that happened. She also has made use of many illustrations, and color plates. Thank you. This is why I read history books. I want pictures, charts, maps, and graphs. They give visual life to things she talks about. I think every history book should have illustrations.

Another thing I have to give her credit for is her extremely detailed and easy to follow Further Reading at the back of the book. She explains where to go for more information about different topics with website links, and specific books she recommends. She doesn’t list books, but actually explains which books are good for which topics. Thank you Mary Beard.

NOTE: If you go on Twitter and read what Mary Beard writes, you can see she isn’t your typical academic. She posts a lot. She doesn’t post like a stuffy academic. She calls out other academics doing bad things. She’s a delight. I don’t use Twitter, but we need more learned people like poets, authors, professors, scientists becoming involved in the public discourse.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #41 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #MaryBeard #Rome #history”,

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 10:46:06 +0000

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

What a beautiful book about a mother dying of cancer. Michelle Zauner is a Korean-American girl who is a typical teenager. She rebels against her mother. She struggles with her identity. She especially struggles with what it means to be Korean? to her classmates she’s Korean but to Koreans she’s look on as a foreigner. She doesn’t speak much Korean. The strongest connection to being Korean she has is her mom’s food. She loves food.

I felt a deep connection to these feelings. I’m a Greek-Canadian. My father died of a heart attack when I was 12. He was my major connection with being Greek. I’m lucky I was forced to go to Greek school and speak a decent amount of Greek. My mom, being adopted by a Greek family, was basically Greek in all but blood. I have fond memories of all the Greek dishes my mom would cook: avgolemeno - lemon chicken soup, spanakopita - spinach pie, tzatziki - spicy yogurt dip, fakies - lentil soup, and many, many more things. Food was about all our family had in common too. We lived to eat. We also owned a restaurant. Now I’m way off topic…so let’s get back to this book.

She had an interesting journey from childhood to adulthood that many children of immigrants will relate to. As I sit her writing this review, I’m listening to the authors album, Soft Sounds from Another Planet. She went on to become an artist/musician. Her band is Japanese Breakfast.

I don’t think my description of this memoir really does it justice, but it did give me the ‘feels’.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #41 in my ReadingChallenge2021

Geisha by Liza Dalby

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 10:34:11 +0000

“Geisha by Liza Dalby

This book may not be strictly science as there is not a strict division between observer and participant in this ethnographic study of geisha. That being said, her experience of going through geisha training makes this book so much richer. This is not only a story about geisha but of Japanese culture in general. As she explains in the preface, you cannot explain geisha without knowledge of Japanese culture.

This book is written by Westerner, but comes without the prejudice of judging another culture from one’s own perspective. Dalby studied shamisen in high school while on an exchange program in Japan. She came to become fluent in Japanese, too. These two things helped her get into the culture as more of an insider, than ‘outsider’. Throughout the book she never makes her own value judgment if geisha are ‘good’ or ‘bad’. She interviewed many people, even did surveys to illustrate the feelings, and attitudes of current and retired geisha. She primarily focused on the Tokyo and Kyoto area.

This is book is a lovely object to hold in your hands. The beautiful illustrations along with pictures from her time as a geisha add a richness to the text. The large margins let the text breathe on each page. Each chapter starts with a quote, or a Japanese poem. She has extensive footnotes, Japanese terms, and bibliography at the back of the book for those interested in further reading.

After reading this book, I personally think geisha are yes outdated, but a wonderful connection to Japan’s past. They are part of Japan’s living history. It would be very sad to lose part of their history if there were no more geisha’s.

Though travel is curtailed by the coronavirus right now, I am now eyeing a trip to Kyoto. It feels like I’ve already strolled the street of Pontocho in Kyoto by reading this book. I wonder if my real experience would live up to the trip I’ve already taken in this book. Probably not, but that won’t stop me from wanting to go.

This book is required for anyone looking to understand Japanese culture.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #40 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #LizaDalby #geisha #japan #anthropology #asia #kyoto”,

They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

Sat, 24 Apr 2021 14:50:03 +0000

“They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers

A blistering, vivid account of how white women were just as involved in the slave trade as men. I have not read many books on slavery in America, but this one was a good one to give you a feel of how it operated. There are quotes from former slaves, or their descendants. There is lots of research from newspapers, and personal diaries of the men and women of the antebellum period.

Now, this is not a book for everyone. It may be a bit dry for some people’s tastes, but the scholarly effort, and work that has been put into this novel is incredible.

Hopefully this books changes the longstanding attitude that only the more visible men were involved in the slave trade, while the poor missus was at home tending the fire and having babies.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #39 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #AmericanHistory #StefanieEJones-Rogers #slavery #USA #history”,

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 21:40:34 +0000

“O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it for a little while.

A story of settlers who come from Europe to settle Hanover, Nebraska. Of course this novel is concerned with buying property, and farming, but it closely looks at the relationships between people. It is told in batches of chapters in a certain time, then skips many years to focus on a new cluster of key events. The effect is that you are quickly moved through the lives of the main characters and get to know them from birth until death.

The book dives into the heads of the people who are ‘pioneers’ and ‘settling’ this land, especially why they have come to America? What are their motivations for being a successful farmer? Even what does success mean to each settler? It has a heartbreaking ending that brought tears to my eyes.

Cather writes so vividly about the land and farming, it is easy to tell she has lived in Nebraska. She writes very strong female characters, and actually they are the focus of the book other than a few of the men whose lives are intertwined with the lead females. This is the first book of 3 in the Great Plains trilogy. I have already added #2 and #3 to my To Read pile.

I’m always fascinated by book titles, their meanings, and origins. This title is based on Walt Whitman’s poem, ““Pioneers! O Pioneers!””

Come my tan-faced children,

Follow well in order, get your weapons ready, Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes? Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here, We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger, We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths, So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship, Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted? Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the seas? We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind, We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world, Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march, Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing, Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep, Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways, Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling, We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines within, We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we, From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high plateaus, From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come, Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas, Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental blood intervein’d, All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the Northern, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race! O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all! O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress, Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress, (bend your heads all,) Raise the fang’d and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon’d mistress, Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children, By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter, Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging, Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks, With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly fill’d, Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on! Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come? Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill’d. Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world, Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat, Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life’s involv’d and varied pageants, All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work, All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves, Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers, All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked, All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying, Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body, We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way, Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions pressing, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb! Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets, All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams, Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us, All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait behind, We to-day’s procession heading, we the route for travel clearing, Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West! O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives! Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies! (Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your work,) Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet, Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious, Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast? Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock’d and bolted doors? Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended? Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding on our way? Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet, Far, far off the daybreak call—hark! how loud and clear I hear it wind, Swift! to the head of the army!–swift! spring to your places, Pioneers! O pioneers!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #38 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #WillaCather #USA #women #Nebraska #farming”,

Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom by Howard S. Levy

Wed, 14 Apr 2021 16:52:38 +0000

Chinese Footbinding: The History of a Curious Erotic Custom by Howard S. Levy

Now, this was quite a strange book. I bought this from the used bookstore for $100 NT because it was about Asian culture, and history - two of my favourite things! The reviews on GoodReads for this book are also quite solid as this seems to be the ‘bible’ of footbinding.

There are many aspects to this book. There are sections on: the history of footbinding and the the movement to abolish it, how to footbind, essays on sexual positions that ‘lotus lovers’ loved, essays on a dissection of a bound foot, and interviews from women who grew up with bound feet.

Now, I did learn a lot here, but this book is a bit all over the place. In parts it feels very scholarly, and in other parts it feels like Levy is recounting stories he’s heard from people. The whole problem with research on footbinding seems to be that: (a) nobody knows exactly when it started (b) nobody knows exactly why it was done. This leaves a huge vacuum for academics to interpret the scant evidence to answer these questions.

Some parts of this book felt to me like they had an Orientalist vibe. I’m not sure that was the intention, but this book certainly could use an update, as this was published in 1967. There is great research in here, but there certainly isn’t a very clear narrative in the book once you get past the first chapter. This fragmentation does work in its favour because there are big sections you can easily just skip if you aren’t too interested in them, say the 18 ‘lotus lovers’ kama sutra descriptions for example.

I see there are some more current books about this topic that look worth checking out. I am interested in reading this more current book, Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Footbinding, so see how she treats this delicate topic.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #37 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon & Nathan Hale

Wed, 14 Apr 2021 16:15:16 +0000

“Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon & Nathan Hale (Rapunzel’s Revenge #1)

I’ve been a fan of Hale’s for sometime now. My readers will know I am rather fond of Mr. Hale’s graphic novel series, Hazardous Tales series. So when I heard he and his wife had a fresh take on Rapunzel, well I was immediately sold. I was actually very lucky to find this at the used bookstore for only $84 NT.

This retelling of Rapunzel puts the long-haired maiden in control of her destiny. She has a lot of spunk. She also has a side-kick, Jack, who she bumps into after her escape from her ‘tower’ but speaking of that, she didn’t need any prince or hero to rescue her. She figured out how to get out all by herself. Then she bumps into someone else and that becomes the main plot of the book.

I liked the world building they did in this series. I know there is another book in the series, Calamity Jack, but I’m not sure it is in the same world. It would be a shame to lose that.

I can’t wait to read this to my daughter. I love exposing her to things I like, that I think (and hope) she likes too. I think I hear Calamity Jack calling me now…gotta go!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #36 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #NathanHale #ShannonHale #Rapunzel #FairyTale #GraphicNovel”,

Economics in the Age of Covid-19:Updated Edition by Joshua Gans

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 12:15:27 +0000

Economics in the Age of Covid-19, Updated Edition by Joshua Gans

2019 and 2020 has been quite a mess politically, economically, and for the health and safety of almost everyone on this Earth. This book aims to look at the economic factors that come into play during a pandemic. Also, to explain how different actions taken during this pandemic can have long term consequences.

Though this book is clearly aimed at the misinformation, and craziness happening in America, it does talk about examples of pandemic responses that were done well like in Denmark, and Taiwan.

This book is very short, and the postmortem of the COVID-19 pandemic is still on-going, sadly, because the pandemic hasn’t stopped in many parts of the world.

These are the two problems that plague (!)* this book. The topic he is writing about is not even finished, so it’s hard to write an accurate, and comprehensive book about the economics of COVID-19. The other problem is that this book is too US-centric in my opinion.

I appreciate the scholarship of the book, and look forward to more detailed accounts balancing the response to pandemic, with the economy yet to be written. The human race certainly has a lot to learn from this if we are going to survive the next pandemic, and the climate disaster that is looming.

Mr. Gans put a few puns in the book and marked them with an exclamation mark. I enjoyed the puns. Thank you!

Rating: ★★★

Book #35 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Wed, 07 Apr 2021 11:58:11 +0000

“Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The pirate genre is flooded with movies, books, and TV shows. According to Wikipedia, ““There have been over 50 film and TV adaptations of Treasure Island.”” I wanted to go back to the source of these pirate stories and see where many of these pirate conventions came from: the treasure map with an X on it, the black spot, and one-legged pirates with parrots on their shoulders.

This was much more kid friendly than I thought it would be. There is lots of action, but not the blood and guts type. There is intrigue, and plotting but not too much shooting. Despite watching many pirate shows, I was not that familiar with the plot of the Treasure Island, though I was familiar with many elements of the story.

I read this as an ePub I got from Project Gutenberg. It has beautiful images from the book in it too. I love books with illustrations!

I encourage you to visit Project Gutenberg and discover a classic novel you’ve heard about, but never read. It’s free so you have nothing to lose.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #34 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #RobertLouisStevenson #pirate #treasure #classic”,

Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation by Roderick Beaton

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 08:04:44 +0000

“Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation by Roderick Beaton

I picked up this book because this year, 2021, is the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. I was going to dive into a book solely based on the revolution, but I realized I need to first learn about the whole history of the Greek state. I know of ancient Greece and their myths, and ruins, but I don’t know much of the modern Greek nation. As the title tells us, this book is not about the civilization of Ancient Greece (because who could fit that in one tiny book?) but rather a look at the history of Greece, the nation, from 1821 to present.

As a Greek-Canadian, I feel the love for Greece deep in my heart. I grew up in the Greek culture: eating spanakopita, dancing the pentozali, and going to Greek school to learn the language. Growing up though, I didn’t learn much about modern Greek history so this was a chance to rectify that.

This book is very simple to read because it is a meta-history, and gives you an overview of different periods in the history of the nation. It goes over the key players, and currents within the society. If you’re looking for details, this book will leave you wanting more, but it is a good jumping off point because in only 462 pages, it goes through 200 years of Greek history. It is not a simple history either. In the past 200 years, Greece has had revolutions, military dictatorships, a monarchy, been involved in outside and civil wars, been bankrupt many times, and lost and gained huge amounts of territory.

I learned a lot from this book, and learned about different things I want to learn even more about in the future. Here are some takeaways for me from this book:

East vs West: the nation keeps getting pulled East to West. It is Eastern Orthodox, and has roots in the East with the Ottomans, but Ancient Greece is the foundation of Western culture. The state keeps straddling the line between East & West.
Greek Nation (people who speak Greek and are Orthodox Christians) vs the Greek state: It was a constant battle in Greece since 1821 between the Nation and the State. The initial Greek state was very tiny and a huge portion of the Greek Nation was outside of its borders. Many conflicts occurred in the past 200 years over this question, who should be part of the Greek state?
Bankruptcy: Greece has been bankrupt about 3-4 times by my estimation after reading this book. As a Greek I know how Greeks are masters of avoiding paying taxes. The Greek state has always been bad at collecting taxes. Sadly, this hasn’t changed in 2021, but looking at the history of Greece I can see how in their soul, Greeks don’t always trust the government because it has been in flux for so long. It has not been a stable state.
Cyprus: I didn’t know how and why it was partitioned, but now I do.
Debt to the Ancient Greeks: It’s interesting how the great powers, and Western civilizations feel a great debt to Greeks for their Ancient history and how the modern Greek state used this to their advantage.

If all you know about Greece is Hercules, Plato, Aristotle, the Greek revolution of 1821, and Grexit, then this is a book you should read. It does a good job of filling in the blanks.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #32 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #RoderickBeaton #politics #Greece #history #europe”,

Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 07:37:23 +0000

“Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk

“Below the mill the rivers merge. First they flow close beside each other, undecided, overawed by their longed-for intimacy, and then they fall into each other and get lost in one another. The river that flows out of this melting pot by the mill is no longer either the White or the Black, but it is powerful and effortlessly drives the mill wheel that grinds the grain for bread.

Primeval lies on both the White and Black rivers and also on the third one, formed out of their mutual desire. The river arising from their confluence below the mill is called The River, and it flows on calm and contented.”

Contained herein are tales from the inhabitants of a magical little village called Primeval. There are stories of love, despair, regret, and war. This is a very spiritual book. The stories all touch upon what it means to be human - to live, and to die. It is told in a series of stories, that flow from one to the next - but that’s not to say it’s entirely linear. Some of the timelines overlap, or go back, but the whole book keeps going forward, through World War II and some of the barbaric things humans do, on all sides, and beyond to the end.

“It’s not about whether God exists or not. It’s not like that. To believe, or not to believe, that is the question.”

For me, this book was better than Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead. This feels like a book of fables, or even like a Bible. Some of the stories read like parables, but the meaning or correct answer isn’t shown fully. This book requires more from the reader in tracking all the characters, and teasing out the meaning, whatever you think it may be, from each story…but if you put in that effort you will be rewarded. I can’t wait for Ms. Tokarczuk’s massive book, The Books of Jacob, to be released. I hope it can take me on a spiritual journey just like this one.

““God sees. Time escapes. Death pursues. Eternity waits,””

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #31 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #OlgaTokarczuk #shortstory #spiritual #fable #poland”,

The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

Sun, 28 Mar 2021 09:42:19 +0000

“The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner

I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it last week. I’ve wanted to write a review of it but this book was pretty intense I needed to let it settle in my brain.

February “DISGRACE” “You and your ancestors treated the world like a fucking great toilet bowl. You shat in it and boasted about the mess you’d made. And now it’s full and overflowing, and you’re fat and happy and black kids are going crazy to keep you rich. Goodbye!”

This book is about a dystopian climate future, that may have been science fiction in 1972, when this was written, but is starting to look like our likely future if humans don’t make changes like yesterday!

March “RAVELED SLEEVE” All this time, though, this feeling that the world was ‘’bound’’ to go to hell! Okay, so it’s true these mothers have turned prairies into dustbowls and used the sea for a giant sewer and laid concrete where there used to be forests. So stop them! Don’t just let them walk over you, crush you face-down into the dirt! Crush them first!

The story takes places over 1 year, and each chapter is about one month. As with most of his novels, like ““Stand on Zanzibar””, each chapter has different sections about different characters, and other bits that flesh out the world. The other bits are like news that interrupts the narrative: poems, radio dispatches, advertising for products, or quotes from people in the book world.

One of the most startling things is how similar this nightmare world is to our world in 2021

severe water pollution; most of the time ““don’t drink”” notices issued
you need to wear an air filter mask to walk outside without coughing
so much smog over California, you can’t see the sun
acid rain ruins your clothes if you don’t wear a plastic cover
sea so polluted with garbage, people vacation in the mountains for clean air
much of the land is destroyed by chemicals so food is expensive
rich can afford ‘clean’ food, but is it really clean? possible conspiracy about that
many animals extinct or almost extinct; seeing a bird is a noteworthy event
USA has lowest lifespan in the world
USA run by right wing government with crazy President who uses violence to stop dissent
poor people dying
rich people live in walled communities with armed guards
USA in many foreign wars, there is a draft for all young men
anarchist group, ““Trainites””, blow things up to try and stop corporations from killing the Earth

The main plot is about the ‘leader’ of the Trainite, and the information he has that could help put the world back on track. On the other hand, I’m not sure there is a main plot except that the world is fucked up.

June “A PLACE TO STAND” What hurt him most of all, made him feel like a sick child aware of terrible wrongness and yet incapable of explaining it to anyone who might help, was that in spite of the evidence around them, in spite of what their eyes and ears reported—and sometimes their flesh, from bruises, stab wounds, racking coughs, weeping sores—these people believed their way of life was the best in the world, and were prepared to export it at the point of a gun.

The world in ““The Sheep Look Up”” is a nightmare scenario, and be forewarned, nothing good happens to any of the characters in this novel. It might not be the best novel to read in this pandemic time, or maybe it’s just the kind of novel we do need to read. It’s a very long novel and not for everyone but damn…some of these images will forever be etched in my brain now. Is it too late for us to save ourselves? I hope not but this novel leaves me with doubts.

July “SCRATCHED” When the politicians claim that the public isn’t interested any longer in environmental conservation, they’re half right. People are actually afraid to be interested, because they suspect—I think rightly—that we’ll find if we dig deep enough that we’ve gone so far beyond the limits of what the planet will tolerate that only a major catastrophe which cuts back both our population and our ability to interfere with the natural biocycle would offer a chance of survival.

I’ll end this with the same poem that Brunner does in this novel:

John Milton - Lycidas …The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread …

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #29 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #JohnBrunner #SciFi #fiction #climate #dystopian

“,

Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 15:10:41 +0000

Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville

I happened upon this interesting book while browsing the Melville House Press website. I came upon their store which had a cool bag with the phrase ‘I would prefer not to’. In the description it says …

Black, all-cotton totes sporting, on the front, the phrase that made Bartleby the Scrivener famous, and, on the back, the Melville House logo. Roomy, with a sturdy and slightly-longer-than-usual white cotton strap that will allow you to wear it comfortably over your shoulder.

I got interested, who is Bartleby the Scrivener? What would he prefer not do? After figuring out it was a short story I read it.

This is one of those simple stories, that sort of reads like a parable. You can interpret it in different ways. The heart of this story is a worker who works really hard but one day tells his employer ““I would rather not”” when asked to do something. The story is told by the employer. He is perplexed by this employee’s polite refusal to do work.

I enjoyed this story and am still thinking about it. It’s simplicity and bizareness are points in its favor. Who has never felt like saying ““I would prefer not to””, to their boss? What if we all just told our bosses we’d rather not?

Oh, and yes, I did buy the bag…and the coffee cup and book because I wanted to.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #28 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

English Passengers by Matthew Kneale

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 16:57:28 +0000

English Passengers by Matthew Kneale

This is one exciting adventure with an assortment of odd characters all headed to Van Dieman’s Island. Now, to properly enjoy this tale of exploration, you should have a some grasp of the history of Deportation, and the geography of Tasmania.

Often the book descriptions on GoodReads are trash, but this one is quite a good summary of why this novel is great:

In 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their contraband confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship up for charter. The only takers are two eccentric Englishmen who want to embark for the other side of the globe. The Reverend Geoffrey Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania. His traveling partner, Dr. Thomas Potter, unbeknownst to Wilson, is developing a sinister thesis about the races of men.

Meanwhile, an aboriginal in Tasmania named Peevay recounts his people’s struggles against the invading British, a story that begins in 1824, moves into the present with approach of the English passengers in 1857, and extends into the future in 1870. These characters and many others come together in a storm of voices that vividly bring a past age to life.

This story is told in bits and pieces, and narrated by different characters. It jumps from the current adventure to Van Dieman’s Island, and the aboriginal story about Peevay from the 20-30 years earlier. Of course, these stories catch up to each other later on in the book, and you can see.

I loved the humour in this book. The sailors from the Isle of Man and their mannerisms, with their smuggling adventures was great. I liked how pompous the priest was and how he butted heads with the doctor. The ending was absolutely splendid. I couldn’t put the book down for the last 100 pages as I just had to see how it all turned out.

This story is a fictional story, but it incorporates a lot of historical facts into the narrative. If you really want to learn about Austrailia, and Van Dieman’s Island (renamed Tasmania), then you absolutely need to read, ““The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding”".

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #27 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 12:30:35 +0000

“Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton

I don’t know what it is about these zany comic strips I like the most, but this Beaton gal is sure funny. These comics are a mixture of riffing on classic literature, history, and pop culture. Be warned this is nerdy, bookish, intelligent humour. There is the occasional fart joke, but mostly is sort of high brow stuff. If you don’t read many books, especially classic literature or history, you may not get all the references. There is often a short comment and or description describing the comic at the bottom of the page for the historical comic strips.

Most (maybe all?) of these comics can be browsed on her website, but it’s not as nice ‘reading’ them on the couch with a hot cup of tea.

I am already eyeing her follow-up comic book, ““Step Aside, Pops””. I hope it’s as laugh-out-loud funny as this one. For many of the strips, I read them - laughed, and re-read them and laughed again. Then, I tried to explain it to my wife, but she couldn’t understand what was so funny about it. This book certainly appeals to a certain type of humor. Make sure you browse her website and confirm if this is your type of humour.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #26 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #KateBeaton #comic #funny #history #literature”,

Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 14:54:39 +0000

Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston",“Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston

Do you know what the pilcrow is? Are you interested in learning about the octothorpe? If you are adventurous and want to try to learn the arcane, and fascinating history about the boring, everyday punctuation you use then read on! I am fascinating with reading, history, and typography so this book ticks all the right boxes for me. Some of the first chapters, especially the ones about the pilcrow (no I won’t tell you what that is, read the book!), and octothorpe seemed to be the most well researched, or they just have a more clear historical record on their use and development. Some of the later chapters weren’t as academically rigorous as I would prefer. I understand that this book isn’t supposed to be for the typography expert, or a dense textbook, so I am happy with what I learned and the topics the author chose.

It really is interesting were these marks came from, and some of the punctuation marks that were tried but ultimately failed to become mainstream! The author name-dropped a lot of books he used in research, so I have lots of new books I need to buy & read. The author is good at blending: myth, historical record, and quotes, into a readable, and clear narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone who is even slightly interested in history. You will feel very smart indeed when you call the pilcrow by the correct name next time you are editing a document for your boss in your word processor.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #25 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #KeithHouston #punctuation #history #nonfiction”,

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 21:12:12 +0000

“What did I just read‽ That was incredible, long, funny, philosophical and very prescient for a book published in 1968.

I am still mulling this over in my head. It has so many complex parts, that its a book you really have to be paying attention to when you’re reading it. It jumps between narrative sections with the two main characters, excerpts from other books in the world he has built, and also minor character stories that help flesh out the world.

About the world in Stand on Zanzibar? Well, it’s not a great world. It is a dystopian place that is very overcrowded, governments control who can or can’t have babies based on their genetics, and random people go on rampages and kill people (muckers). There is huge inequality in status of people in each country, and between different countries too. Brunner isn’t too far off in his predictions on most of these things. Oh, and there are extremists blowing things up for fun too!

The main plot was interesting, and was fun to follow to it’s conclusion. The ending is not a happy one, but I am happy with it. I enjoyed the book excerpts written by one of the characters in the book, Chad C. Mulligan.

HISTORY Papa Hegel he say that all we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. I know people who can’t even learn from what happened this morning. Hegel must have been taking the long view. — The Hipcrime Vocab by Chad C. Mulligan

These book quotations from the character Professor Mulligan are great. They add humor to the book, and tell us more about the book world. Hipcrime is some of the slang used in the book. There is a lot of made up slang that Brunner uses in the book, but you pick it up pretty fast from the context.

LEADERSHIP A form of self-preservation exhibited by people with autodestructive imaginations in order to ensure that when it comes to the crunch it’ll be someone else’s bones which go crack and not their own. — The Hipcrime Vocab by Chad C. Mulligan

Part of the novel is about Shalmaneser, the very smart supercomputer AI. The humans really put their trust into what decisions it comes out to. A theme of the book is about the question: do we lose a bit of our humanity if we rely on machines for decision making? Some of the passages about computers are right on the mark and are just as true for the people in the novel, as the people in 2021.

““It is dismaying—one may even say disheartening—to see the degree which blind faith int he manufactured objects that we dignify by the name of ‘computer’ has replaced trust in prayer and the guidance of God. You will never find anyone to admit he or she has substituted a machine for the living divine presence, yet that is exactly what has happened to the bulk of our population. They speak of the evaluations which computers print out for them in the hushed reverent tones which our ancestors reserved for Holy Writ, and now that General Technics has made its arrogant claim about this new piece of hardware, nicknamed ‘Shalmaneser’, we can foresee the day when everyone will have surrendered his responsibility as a thinking being to a machine which has been deluded into respecting as more intelligent than himself. That is, unless we, with God’s help manage to reverse the trend.”” — From an earlier sermon by the luckless bishop whom Henry Butcher sabotaged

This book is not for the faint of heart due to its length and complexity. It takes a few chapters to understand what’s going on. I urge you to keep with it though, as it is a great book. I have had this book on my mind for the last week as I tried to order my thoughts to write this review.

““Well, I guess if we put it Shalmaneser—”” Norman began, but Chad cut him short, stamping his foot. ““Norman, what in God’s name is it worth to be human if we have to be saved from ourselves by a machine?””

Trivia: What does this title mean? Usually there is a reveal in the book that leads you to understand where the title from the book comes from. After reading this, I was still confused about the title so I hopped over to Wikipedia and got the lowdown about the title:

The primary engine of the novel’s story is overpopulation and its projected consequences.[2] The title refers to an early twentieth-century claim that the world’s population could fit onto the Isle of Wight—which has an area of 381 square kilometres (147 sq mi)—if they were all standing upright. Brunner remarked that the growing world population now required a larger island; the 3.5 billion people living in 1968 could stand together on the Isle of Man [area 572 square kilometres (221 sq mi)], while the 7 billion people who he (correctly) projected would be alive in 2010 would need to stand on Zanzibar (emphasis is mine) [area 1,554 square kilometers (600 sq mi)].[4] Throughout the book, the image of the entire human race standing shoulder-to-shoulder on a small island is a metaphor for a crowded world.

So, if a book about overpopulation, authoritarian governments, militant extremism, corporations running wild with technology, and muckers killing people sounds like a great read for you in 2021, jump right in. If not, maybe find something a bit lighter to chew on.

For myself though, I like Brunner’s dark humor and am going to read his ecological disaster sci-fi (or maybe should be classified non-fiction?) book, The Sheep Look Up.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #24 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #JohnBrunner #SciFi #dystopian “,

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 11:03:02 +0000

“A touching story, about a strong girl growing up in hard times in Southern USA. It is about Ms. Angelou’s childhood. She has some amazing tales from her childhood, some which are universal that many of us can relate to, and others that were not. This book gives us a small peek of what it was like to live poor, and black in those times. I say those times, but I know many parts of America, and the world, are still ‘those times’.

The chapters that especially made me angry were about the doctors refusing to treat colored patients. I just can’t imagine how strong a person it takes to walk with your head held high in the face of such flagrant bigotry.

Maya Angelou is a great writer, and I encourage you to read this book. Sadly, the book sort of just ends with the birth of her child but as this is labeled, Autobiography #1, she does continue her story in the next book, Gather Together in my Name.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #23 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #USA #MayaAngelou #racism “,

Hazardous Tales Number: 8-10

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:56:47 +0000

Lafayette! by Nathan Hale

(Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #8)

The tale of the Frenchman, Layfayette, who played a pretty big role in the US Civil War. I had listened to a podcast about the US Civil War before so I am familiar with the name Layfayette, but Hale has a great gift in being able to take a complex subject and translate it to graphic novel format. As a non-American, it was a bit hard for me to follow the exact geography of how things were jumping around from battle-to-battle. The story was interesting, but it is hard to keep a story like this super interesting because it mostly follows Layfayette jumping from battle to battle, trying to get into battles, and also lobbying the French to send more ships.

If you’re into the US Civil War, definitely pick this up! If you aren’t, try some of Hale’s other books like # 9 about an explorer in the Grand Canyon.

Rating: ★★★★

Major Impossible by Nathan Hale

(Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #9)

Follow John Wesley Powell, a US war veteran and explorer, as he maps out the Colorado river in this adventure. The artwork was impressive in this book. You’d think that all rocks, valleys, and cliffs look the same, but they don’t. Hale actually traveled many times to the Grand Canyon, and his familiarity with the setting shines through in his artwork. I love explorer stories whether they be in big ships, or little boats, so I found a lot to enjoy here. It did get repetitive near the end of the book because a lot of what explorers do is keep dry, avoid the rapids, and keep scrounging for food. Hale can’t be blamed for the repetitive nature of that part of the book because he is only following the historical facts.

I only have one more Nathan Hale book on my bookshelf. I’ll be sad to finish the last one. I hope Hale is working on another. These kinds of books are so great for people who say they ‘don’t get history’, or ‘don’t like history’.

Rating: ★★★★★

Blades of Freedom: a Louisiana Purchase Tale

(Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #10)

Well, I read the last book in the series. Now, it may be a long wait until the next Nathan Hale book for me. This book was about the Louisiana Purchase, but to get to that, Hale has to cover a lot of ground in the French Revolution and the goings on in Saint-Domingue (currently, Haiti).

This was a fun ride, from slave revolt, to battles with Napoleon, and beheadings! I learned a lot about how all these different world histories tie into each other. How the French gave (sold!) Louisiana back to the US for money, and because dealing with the slave revolts was just too costly. It was also great how he took us way back in the history of the nation of Haiti back from when the Taino were living there, and even hit upon some of their mythology, and the origins of ‘voodoo’/‘vodou’.

After reading one of these history books, I always find myself wanting to dig deeper into the history covered in the comic. For that reason, these books are excellent primers into complicated phases of world history.

Though I say this is the last book in the series, Hale does leave a hint that he’s saving the story of Lafayette and his part in the French Revolution for another story (!). I wish Mr. Hale Godspeed in making the next great book in this wonderful series about history!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #20-22 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Divorce by Kim Soom

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:51:18 +0000

(Yeoyu - new voices Korea #4)

Translator: Emily Yae Won

A poet is caught in her divorce and the story of 3 generations of her family, and their divorces are told in flashbacks. Korean women have a tough life in the extremely patriarchal society. This book does a good job of easing the reader into a difficult topic, gender roles/dynamics in Korea, and laying bare the emotions the woman has to go through in a familiar struggle we have in every society, divorce.

I liked the way the story was a story within a story told through the flashbacks. The book opens with the main character sitting in the waiting room to get a divorce. She observes the other couples in the waiting room, and notices how they get called, and how they jump up or shuffle to the window, or even have arguments. She reflects on her own life and how it go to the point of divorce in her own relationship.

This one was a stronger book in my opinion compared to Milena, Milena, Ecstatic. In this book I cared for the main character and felt the heartache she had to go through. The story moved along smoothly even when it jumped between different storylines.

I am reading these chap books slowly, and savouring them. I really enjoy taking them to a coffee shop and enjoying a whole book along with a coffee. They are the perfect length to read in a single sitting. I am saving them for my personal coffee shop time.

Also, feel free to check out the other books in this Yeoyu - new voices Korea set, that I have reviewed!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #19 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

History Of Crete by Theocharēs Eustratiou Detorakēs

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:29:23 +0000

“History Of Crete by Theocharēs Eustratiou Detorakēs

I really, really wanted to like this book but it is dry, filled with spelling mistakes, and very focused on the Greek Orthodox history of Crete. That’s not to say this book isn’t valuable, because it is. This is the first book I’ve stumbled upon that is a history of Crete from ancient times up to the end of World War 2, but it was still a disappointment to me.

First off, the book is so very dry. I love reading dense history books, but this book is so dry, and the translation is so awkward it is a difficult slog. I read the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in Grade 4, but I still think this is dry. You also have many chapters about the organization of the church, and which part of Crete has this or that priest, or where they built monasteries. Relevance?

This book is packed with spelling mistakes too. I do not exaggerate when I say there are about 2-3 spelling mistakes each page. It’s just unprofessional. Did this book have no editor? It’s a shame because I think a spellcheck program would’ve caught 90% of the mistakes in here.

Speaking of an editor, for the amount of information in this book it could’ve been slimmed down a lot with better editing. A history book doesn’t have to be thick to be worthwhile. They could’ve used those extra pages for more diagrams and pictures. I really enjoyed the 10-20 pictures that were in the back of the book and would’ve liked to see a few more. I’m not sure why they put all the pictures at the back of the book instead of in the text when the related topic came up; the pictures are only black and white so I’m a bit stumped about that decision.

I bought this book while vacation visiting my family in Crete. It looked pretty interesting when I flipped through it, but alas looks can be deceiving. Being of Cretan descent, I’m still on the lookout for a great history of Crete. I don’t advise you not to read this book, but you certainly should skip over the long chapters about the church stuff.

Rating: ★★ Book #17 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #Fiction #history #Crete #TheocharēsEustratiouDetorakēs “,

Eumeswil by Ernst Jünger

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 21:05:26 +0000

Eumeswil by Ernst Jünger

I’m not sure what to say about this. This is nominally about a ‘utopian state’ that is ruled by a military dictator. It really is a treatise on life, and part of it feels like a memoir of the author.

Anyone who writes history would like to preserve the names and their meanings, indeed rediscover the names of cities and nations that are long forgotten. It is like placing flowers on a grave: Ye dead and also ye nameless - princes and warriors, slaves and evildoers, saints and whores, do not be mournful: ye are remembered lovingly.

Some parts of the book were great. It’s a slog to get through, but only because it is so dense, and full of references to classical literature.

I can barely distinguish between work and leisure. I like them equally. This is consistent with my principle that there can be no empty time, no minute without intellectual tension and alertness. If a man succeeds in playing life as a game, he will find honey in nettles and hemlock; he will even enjoy adversity and peril.

The author wrote this when he was 82 years old which is pretty incredible in of itself. I can feel the echoes of the war in this novel; Jünger lived through two world wars, and fought in WW1, and that experience has to change a man.

Man is born violent but is kept in check by the people around him. If he nevertheless manages to throw off his fetters, he can count on applause, for everyone recognizes himself in him.

There were some nuggets of gold in here, but it didn’t ultimately feel worth the effort. It is amazing how some of these quotes about dictators could be applied today to people in power. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

In regard to these jottings, I considered burning them; they weigh on my mind if only because they are incomplete. A sense of inadequacy casts a shadow on my existence both as a historian and as a man.

Maybe he should’ve burned this one.

Rating: ★★

Book #16 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Milena, Milena, Ecstatic by Bae Suah

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 08:39:37 +0000

(Yeoyu - new voices Korea #6)

This book is part of a set from Strangers Press. I like their mission.

 STRANGERS PRESS is focused on publishing literary translations and international writing in innovative or creative ways. We’re particularly interested in the idea of translation as a form of cultural exchange – that cultures might learn things about each other, in multiple ways, through the process – and seek to publish in a way that celebrates or foregrounds that, in collaboration with the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East Anglia,  and The National Centre for Writing.
 We take our name from The Strangers of the 16th century: a group of economic migrants from the Spanish Netherlands invited to help boost the nation's textile industry. Our logo references a Flemish gable – in connection with their legacy – and suggests transition from one state to another.

As I’m a sucker for translated fiction, and these sets have awesome book covers - I was sold! The sets aren’t cheap, ($35 EUR) but are very cool. Each book is only 30-40 pages long, so these are easy to get through in one sitting.

This book Milena, Milena, Ecstatic is from the Yeoyu - New Voices from Korea set.

YEOYU6: Milena, Milena, Ecstatic by Bae Suah Hom Yun’s meticulously ordered life of reading books and drinking coffee receives a jolt when a mysterious cultural foundation unexpectedly agrees to fund his film proposal: a blend of fiction and documentary, a tone-poem constructed around a lyrical narrative, set around Scythian graves in the High Altai mountains. Desperate to be taken on as his assistant, the foundation’s secretary follows him from their offices and begins a night of crossed wires, dislocation, and reality seen through glass, darkly. One of South Korea’s most astonishingly sui generis authors, Bae Suah mixes the cerebral and the pungently physical, the mundane and the wildly surreal, in a characteristically potent blend.

A slow look at a mans ordered life and then suddenly having his dream come true. Not much ‘happens’ in this one but we get an deep look into what makes this man tick, and then see how he reacts to an unexpected event in his life.

I’ve read Bae Suah before. She has great stories. This wasn’t my favorite by her, but it was a good read for the coffee shop. I didn’t buy this set for her story, but rather the other authors I’ve never really heard of in the set. As stated before, these books can be read in one sitting, so they are perfect short stories to curl up with at your favorite coffee shop.

I plan to buy the other 2 strangers.press sets they have, one with Japanese authors, and one with Norwegian authors. If you can spare the Euros, these are very nice sets for your collection.

Note that they are chap books, so when they’re on your shelf you can’t see the title of the book on the spine.

Also, Feel free to check out the other books in this Yeoyu - new voices Korea set, that I have reviewed!

Rating: ★★★

Book #15 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū

Sun, 14 Feb 2021 23:10:08 +0000

“Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū

I love translated fiction. I especially read a lot of Asian translated fiction. Every country certainly has its own style. This Japanese story is an odd mix of ghost memoir, and history of an MRT station. Lots of Japanese fiction I seem to read has its own slow cadence, meandering plot and a fascination with death.

I used to think life was like a book: you turn the first page, and there’s the next, and as you go on turning page after page, eventually you reach the last one. But life is nothing like a story in a book. There may be words, and the pages may be numbered, but there is no plot. There may be an ending, but there is no end.

I was drawn to this book by the great cover art, and very interesting description of the book: "” A surreal, devastating story of a homeless ghost who haunts one of Tokyo’s busiest train stations."" A homeless ghost? Weird, but eh, why not?

The story jumps back and forth the the present, the ghost’s observations of people in the park, things he remembers from his past life, and his homeless life too. This novel is just very weird to describe, but I think this is a great novel for 2020. It makes you think about life, and death, and about the paths not taken. At the end of life, what will I have accomplished? All those sorts of emo-introspective musings that are usually explored in television shows we watch.

If you like quirky, and weird Japanese/Korean novels say like ones by Han Kang or Haruki Murakami, you probably will enjoy this. Don’t take the 3.65 star rating too seriously on GoodReads because I think people were just thrown off by the odd-ness of this novel, and how it jumps between time in a seamless manner.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #14 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #Fiction #MiriYū #JapaneseLit #TranslatedFiction #ghost #death",

The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea by Bandi

Sun, 14 Feb 2021 22:53:53 +0000

This is an incredible work that was written from someone still living inside of North Korea. There are seven stories in this book, and they are all strong. They capture the insanity of living inside the kingdom of North Korea ruled by the hereditary dynasty.

You really are getting two books in one here: one is the story of how this manuscript was written, and smuggled out of North Korea, and the actual ‘fictional’ (probably closer to non-fiction than we can imagine) stories.

I am always drawn to books like this. Books written by people who are/were in desperate situations: Palestine, WW2, comfort women, and concentration camps. I almost feel as it is my duty to hear them out. I am very privileged to be living in safe, democratic country and I can only imagine the hardship Bandi went through to write this manuscript, and the stress he must deal with in continuing to be safe. There are notes before, and at the end of the book detailing how the book was smuggled out, and the story of how it came to be printed. There are also two lovely poems that were part of the manuscript, one they put at the beginning and one at the end of the book.

The stories themselves are simple, and devastating in their critique of the regime. Each story revolves around such a simple thing that would be no problem for most of us in our country (traveling to visit a sick relative, for example) but in North Korea, every part of your life is regulated, monitored, and controlled.

I enjoyed these stories and hope that we will look back on it and see that people resisted. I pray that Bandi and his family are safe. I hope they know their manuscript has made it out into the world and people are reading it.

We hear you, and take solace in the truth that no empire, no dynasty, no king will last forever.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #13 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Privacy is Power: Reclaiming Democracy in the Digital Age by Carissa Véliz

Wed, 10 Feb 2021 07:56:30 +0000

“Privacy is Power: Reclaiming Democracy in the Digital Age by Carissa Véliz

They are watching us. They know I’m writing these words. They know you are reading them. Governments and hundreds of corporations are spying on you and me, and everyone we know. Every minute of every day. They track and record all they can: our location, our communications, our internet searches, our biometric information, our social relations, our purchases, and much more. They want to know who w are, what we think, where we hurt.

This is the privacy manifesto I’ve been waiting for. This is the book that you can get our mom and dad to read, and they will understand why privacy is important. I want to buy copies of this book for everyone in my family. I want to send this book to members of parliament, and prime ministers around the world.

Too much is at staked to let privacy wither - our very way of life is at risk. Surveillance threatens freedom, equality, democracy, autonomy, creativity, and intimacy. We have been lied to time and again, and our data is being stolen to be used against us. No more. Having too little privacy is at odds with having well-functioning societies. Surveillance capitalism needs to go. It will take some time and effort, but we can and will reclaim privacy.

Surveillance capitalism is a word coined by Shoshana Zuboff in her excellent book ““The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power””. While her book is an incredible history, and breakdown of how our privacy is being stolen by big tech, it is also incredibly long, and hard to read; it isn’t a book that grandma would probably understand and it doesn’t drive home why privacy is important to each and every one of us.

To those who say say that privacy is dead, ask them for their password to their email account. Or, better yet, next time they’re in a toilet cubicle, greet them from the adjoining cubicle as you take a peek over the divider. You won’t be disappointed - privacy norms are in good health.

She makes a valid point in her book that we are the one who are giving away our privacy. We wouldn’t be ok with people watching us pee, but we gladly let apps monitor what we do on our phones. She shows us that because this invasion of privacy is being done ‘transparently’ and without many of us knowing, is why we continue to let it happen. I hope by reading this book more people become aware of the true state of technology right now.

For example…

By now most people are aware that their data is worth money. But your data is only valuable because it can be sold. Facebook does not technically sell your data, for instance. Nor does Google, they sell the power to influence you. They keep your data so that they can sell the power to show you ads, and the power to predict your behavior. Google and Facebook are only technically in the business of data: they are mostly in the business of power. Even more than monetary gain, personal data bestows power on those who collect and analyse it, and that is what makes it so coveted.

She puts complex concepts into ways that the average person with little technical knowledge can understand.

Tech has a track record of caring little or nothing about our autonomy. Many tech companies don’t seem very interested in what we want. They don’t make products to help us live the life we want to live, or become the people we want to be. They make products that will help them achieve their goals, products that squeeze as much data as possible from us for their benefit.

This book explains so perfectly why I’m self-hosting services at home, even this blog. I want to use tech, I don’t want it using me.

Any social system depends on the cooperation of the people. When people stop cooperating, the system breaks apart. Often the necessity of cooperation isn’t obvious until it stops, and with it the whole machinery grinds to a halt. To trade in personal data relies on our corporation. If we stop cooperating with surveillance capitalism, we can change it. If we look for privacy-friendly alternatives, they will thrive.

We can stop this. We all need to become more educated on what is happening, and then refuse to cooperate.

A good life demands a reasonable degree of struggle - the right balance between the ease of convenience and the benefits of meaningful effort. Like pleasure, convenience has to be weighed against the price we have to pay for it, and the consequences that are likely to ensue.

In the last part of the book, she gives important tips that people can help fight back against the data collection happening to them. She recommends ways people can stop giving up their data, secure their email, and be more aware of the data trail we are leaving in the world.

Not all tech is bad. A world in which we can enjoy privacy doesn’t need to be one deprived of technology. We just need the right teach with the right rules in place. Good tech does not force-feed you. It is there to enhance your autonomy, to help you achieve your own goals, as opposed to tech’s goals. Good tech tells it to you straight - no fine print, no under-the-table snatching of your data, no excuses, and no apologies. Good tech works for you. You are its client. Not advertisers, not data brokers, not governments. You’re not only a user, and never a subject, but a citizen who is also a customer. Good tech respects our rights and our liberal democracies, Good tech protects your privacy.

How’s that for a conclusion? The fight isn’t lost yet, but we do need to start fighting. Please share this book with your family and friends. Let’s take back tech.

Rating: ★★★★★★!

Book #12 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #NonFiction #CarissaVéliz #privacy #tech #GAFAM”,

Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 06:50:07 +0000

Boris Strugatsky",“Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky

Don’t be put off by the strange title. This is a wonderful sci-fi story that explores the question: what if we had proof that we weren’t alone in the universe?

Humans are visited by aliens in this book, but they never meet us. They leave behind debris, and ‘garbage’. The area they visit becomes a radioactive wasteland with dangerous phenomena in there that can kill you. The area is closed off and called the Zone. Scientists try to study artifacts they find in the zone, while ‘stalkers’ sneak in and steal them to sell.

The main character in this book is about one prolific stalker. His story is told in pieces, and at different points in his life. His most incredible adventure though comes at the end of his career when we goes after a mythical Zone artifact.

This story is mostly about greed I’d say. Sadly, I think this is exact what would happen in aliens visited us. It wouldn’t unite us, or push us to a higher plane - we’d go on killing each other, and trying to make money.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #11 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #ArkadyStrugatsky #BorisStrugatsky #SciFi #greed”,

Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 07:41:51 +0000

“Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle #2)

After finishing Hainish Cycle #1, Rocannon’s World, I decided to keep on going and read #2. In this one, we find some advanced people who have been stranded on another world inhabited by two other less technologically advanced people’s. This should sound familiar to those that read Rocannon’s World.

I found this book more exciting and engaging than Rocannon’s World. The relationships between the characters were more believable, and the whole situation had more tension. A brief summary of the plot: the exiles are in their city close to another tribe of people. These two cities are threatened by a ‘barbarian’ type of people coming south to attack them. The long winter is also approaching.

Le Guin sure likes having people exiled far away from home. Many of her books deal with an advanced civilization on a world with less advanced peoples.

I enjoyed the little romance between people, and how that affected the politics of the ‘war’ approaching. The ending was appropriately left a bit open-ended, but you can feel where things are headed.

As far as the Hainish Cycle is concerned, this book has revived my interest in continuing to read through this series. Another positive for the series is that the books are all relatively short. I don’t know about you, but these days I find it difficult to concentrate on long books.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #9 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #UrsulaKLeGuin #HainishCycle #aliens #war #winter”,

Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 07:27:36 +0000

“Rocannon’s World by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle #1)

So I started reading the series, The Hainish Cycle. I have already read #4 (The Left Hand of Darkness) and the #6 (The Dispossessed) in the series, so I thought I may enjoy the rest.

This book finds us on a world inhabited by some pre-warp humanoid species. There is also a person from an advanced world there studying them. He gets trapped there and gets involved in warning his home planet about some technologically advanced invaders.

I enjoyed the world-building in this one, but the rest of the book felt flat to me. After the main plot gets developed, we have the main character, Rocannon (sometimes spelled Rokanan), on a journey to his ansible (instant radio type communicator) to warn his people about the invaders. This journey to the radio is pretty ho-hum. They fly their flying tiger things, rest, and keep flying. They encounter some baddies, and keep going.

I was expecting to have my socks blown off with this one, but didn’t. Maybe Le Guin was just getting into the groove with her earlier books before hitting gold in Left Hand of Darkness. I hope I enjoy #2, Planet of Exile better.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #8 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #UrsulaKLeGuin #HainishCycle #aliens”,

Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy

Sun, 24 Jan 2021 07:51:30 +0000

“Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy

Ive seen the meanness of humans till I dont know why God aint put out the sun and gone away.

This was another dark novel by Cormac McCarthy. If you read The Road, and are expecting a more upbeat novel from McCarthy, please turn back now, and run!

A brother and sister have a baby together. They have conflicted feelings about this; the sister wants to see the baby, but before she can, the brother abandons it in the forest to die. But…that doesn’t happen. The rest of the book is about the sister running away seeking the child, and the brother seeking the sister. Along the way the brother encounters evil men, and the sister encounters kind people. There is a tinker, and a gang of 3 violent men too.

This story reads like a parable of good and evil. There is a lot of murder and death in this story. I am still mulling over this book in my mind. The brother kept encountering bad situations on his journey, was this punishment from God for his action? The sister encountered better people who empathized with a woman looking for their child. In the end though, they were both punished for their original sin.

Many feel the biblical allusions when reading this, and I felt it too. Instead of Mary’s miraculous birth, we have insect. Instead of 3 wisemen, we have 3 bad men. There are pig shepherds. There is human sacrifice too, but is it for their sins, or for others?

The story will stay in my mind for a time to come, but this isn’t a story for everybody. Many complained it was violent, but that’s like ordering a beef hamburger and complaining there is too much beef in it. If you know McCarthy, you know what you’re getting into.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #7 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #BookReview #Books #CormacMcCarthy #USA #violent #horror”,

Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State by Barton Gellman

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 14:03:12 +0000

Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State by Barton Gellman

This is the third book I’ve read about Snowden, but I’m still fascinated in the event. As a computer geek, this event had a major impact on my life.

If you don’t know, Snowden was an NSA contractor who discovered the NSA was not as good as they claimed to be. He got files as evidence out of the NSA and gave it to 3 reporters to report on this massive story.

This book has lots of commentary from government types from the NSA, and the CIA. Gellman also talks about some more technical stuff that the other books about Snowden did not. This narrative is from Gellman, a more conservative newspaper man, so it isn’t as flashy, or hyperbolic as some other books I’ve read. I enjoyed the behind the scenes look at him negotiating with the Washington Post on how to proceed with the story. Gellman even included some screenshots of the ‘classified’ slides which was cool. It was interesting to see the though process of him, as a reporter, and how he decided to frame different stories.

The bottom line you should take away from reading a book like this is, the government is not to be blindly trusted; they are your friend, until they aren’t.

This is a short book, if you don’t read this book about Snowden, at least read another one!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #6 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 14:20:48 +0000

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The great think about Tchaikovsky’s sci-fi is that he never supposes that humans are ‘special’. That humans are the only life that is, and could ever be in the universe. His sci-fi is quite unique just like the author, how many authors are writing sci-fi that have a zoology, psychology degree and practice law?

This book started out all over place, but the pieces came into place near the end. This isn’t my favorite work by this author but I can see how this is a lighter, more accessible book. This is like his Dan Brown thriller that can get people interested in his work.

The major premise of this book is that the world is ending, and scientists and some friendly ‘aliens’ are there to help us put the pieces back together again. Sounds like Dan Brown minus the aliens eh?

Once you’ve whetted your appetite for weird sentient creepy crawlies with this book, you can check out my favorite series by this author, Children of Time (only 600 pages!).

Rating: ★★★★

Book #4 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

Excession by Iain M. Banks

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 12:47:53 +0000

Excession by Iain M. Banks

Culture series #5

A Unexplained Thing appears in space and is quickly a catalyst to schemes and plans by the Culture, Elench, and Affronters.

This was way better than The State of the Art. Banks just doesn’t do well in short stories. This was a good entry into The Culture universe, but wasn’t as riveting as the first 3 books in The Culture series. I hope the last 4 books are even better.

There were lots of little subplots that made things very confusing. It also got confusing at time because of all the Culture ships involved. The first 3 Culture books were better because the world was big, but the action focussed on the politics, and double dealing of certain characters. This book was a huge Space Opera. There were few characters we really got to know well, and way too many Minds/Culture ships to keep track of in the story.

The Culture books don’t need to be read in order, but do not read this one before you’ve read others because you’d be hopelessly lost.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #3 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 21:26:03 +0000

“The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding by Robert Hughes

The history of the birth of Australia which came out of the suffering and brutality of England’s infamous convict transportation system.

Every now and then I read one of these epic, funny, exciting, and goddamned informative history books, and I remember why I love reading history books. Everybody should read this. This is a concise, witty, and well-researched & organized book about Austria, the largest continent/country.

At 688 pages long, this is not a ‘light’ read, but it is a page-turner. He looks at the brutal beginnings of Australia from many different angles: contact with aborigines, transportation system, convict labor and it’s effect on the economy, bushrangers, penal colonies Van Dieman’s Island/Tasmania, Norfolk Island, notable escapees and much much more.

I love how he effortlessly brings original sources into the text to really give the text flavor. He inserts quotes from convict diaries, from newspapers, even from popular songs. This has to be one of the greatest non-fiction books I’ve ever read. I wish I could find a history of Canada that is on par with this book. If anybody knows of one, please, please recommend one to me.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #2 in my #ReadingChallenge2021 #Books #BookReview #RobertHughes #Australia #slavery #convict #history”,

Raid of No Return by Nathan Hale

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:16:00 +0000

(Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #7)

Another solid entry into the Hazardous Tales series. I have already read #1-6 and reviewed them. I have #8-10 sitting on my shelf ready for me to read soon.

This one is about the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders. They were a group of bombers who made a top secret bombing run on Tokyo and other Japanese to hurt Japanese morale, and of course probably to retaliate for Pearl Harbour.

Cool pictures of the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders here.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #1 in my #ReadingChallenge2021

The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 10:49:31 +0000

“The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks Culture #4

I really like the Culture. If there was a future society I would want to live in, it would probably be The Culture. I have been putting off reading this book though because I wasn’t all that interested. I grit my teeth though, and got through this so I can get to the other part of the Culture series.

This is the weakest Culture book I’ve read so far. It’s a book of short stories. Banks does not do well in short form. His books are intricate, long, and detailed, but that is the antithesis of short stories. The mid-range length story, The State of the Art, was sort of an interesting premise but didn’t achieve the heights Banks has hit in the previous 3 Culture books.

One interesting thing about this book were the illustrations. I love books with illustrations. They certainly added some visual appeal to the book.

All-in-all, if you like Banks' Culture series, you have to read this for completions sake, but it is not a very joyous or memorable book. Read it, and move on.

Rating: ★★

Book #128 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #SciFi #ScienceFiction #IanMBanks #ShortStory #TheCulture”,

Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 14:29:51 +0000

“Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick

Let me say, this was the most disappointing Philip K. Dick I’ve ever read. I don’t know what my expectations were coming into this, but certainly it wasn’t this.

I’ve finished the book, and can’t really pinpoint what the point of it all was.

The book is set in Mars where there is like a frontier-like atmosphere kinda like when America was ‘opening’ up the west. Mars has their own Indians, called Bleekman (har har! Like blackman, get it!). There are lonely housewives at home while men are out fixing things (groan). There is an evil union boss that controls a lot of Mars. There is some land speculation. There is a boy that can apparently feel/see the future. That was the most interesting part of this, very boring book, and we didn’t even get there until like 50% through the book.

This book is all over the place. It has not aged well (bleekman, desperate housewives). The core plot device of an autistic (?) kid that can see the future is pretty lame, and doesn’t really advance the plot very much.

All-in-all the most disappointing Philip K. Dick books I’ve read.

Rating: ★★

Book #127 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #SciFi #ScienceFiction #PhilipKDick #Mars”,

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 12:55:16 +0000

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

This may have been a bad choice to read in the year 2020, or maybe the perfect read? The point of this book is that we are fucked, but maybe not if we wake up.

The book goes over the history of some past societies that collapsed, some well known (Easter Island) and others more obscure (Anasazi). Before he even gets into that, he talks about Montana for 50 pages. At times, Diamond rambles. He is talking about interesting stuff, but it is far too long. Sometimes it feels you are reading a lecture transcript, which some may like, but I don’t like it that much.

Then the book describes modern societies: Rwanda, Dominican Republic vs. Haiti, China, and Australia. The section on China was the worst, closely followed by the section on Rwanda. In the China section, he seems to imply that China’s one child policy was a positive thing for the country (!). He also doesn’t seem very knowledgeable about China at all. The section on Australia was very informative and even makes me want to read more about Australia’s history. Jared Diamond is great when he’s writing about places he’s visited (New Zealand, Australia, USA, and Papa New Guinea). The weak chapters are all about places he has never visited. Living in Taiwan, and knowing so much about China, it’s obvious he has never visited China.

In his last few chapters, he tries to give some suggestions of what modern societies can do to avoid collapse. This section of the book is about 100 pages, but most of the suggestions he makes are sort of obvious. He does have an excellent section in there about mining though, which makes me rethink the next phone I want to buy to minimize my impact on buying ‘dirty’ metals.

Was this book good? Yes. Was Diamond long-winded at times? YES! It is still a worthy read, but it’s almost too light. For me, I have already read books about Rwanda so I feel more informed about Rwanda than he does. This book seems geared to the ‘average’ reader who cares about things like if a book is a ““New York Times Bestseller””. I am definitely not the target audience of this book.

I really wanted to love this book. I did lots of very cool things about the Vikings, Greenland, and Easter Island. It was filled with lots of other OK content. This is a let down for me after really loving Guns, Germs, and Steel. This book either needed to be way longer, with more research, charts, and maps, or separate books. The book felt like it lacked a clear direction at times. This is not the Jared Diamond of Guns, Germs, and Steel. You have been forewarned.

Rating: ★★★

Book #126 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Photoprism on Yunohost Installation Guide

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 23:19:24 +0000

This is a quick guide for people using Yunohost to install Photoprism.

Full installation instructions in the Photoprism Documentation

Before you Start

Hard Drive: You should install Photoprism on a drive with at least the same amount of free space as your photo collection. E.g. 20 GB of photos - have at least 20 GB of free space. Photoprism will create thumbnails and other files that will take up a good portion of space. Swap space: Have at least as much as your installed RAM. If your swap partition is too small, switch to a swapfile. RAM Photoprism seems to use about 2 GB of RAM while idle. If you are using almost the whole amout of your RAM, nextcloud, and xmpp will cut in and out. With Photoprism, and all your services idling, I would suggest at least having 1 GB of RAM free.

Install Docker-Compose

sudo apt install docker-compose

Download Docker Config File

cd ~ 
wget https://dl.photoprism.org/docker/docker-compose.yml

Make Changes to Config File

nano docker-compose.yml

Make these changes:

PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: SECUREPASSWORDHERE
PHOTOPRISM_SITE_URL: ""http://domain.com:2342/""
#PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: ""sqlite""           #comment this out
PHOTOPRISM_DATABASE_DRIVER: ""mysql"" #use this one
volumes: #example setup - best to have /.photoprism folder in your photos folder to easily move your photo collection to another computer, or system later
      #Storage folder for settings, index & sidecar files (DON'T REMOVE):
      - ""/photos/.photoprism:/photoprism/storage""
      #Your personal photo and video collection ([local path]:[container path]):
      - ""/photos/originals:/photoprism/originals""
      #Mounting the import folder is optional (see docs):
      - ""/photos/import:/photoprism/import""
#Uncomment the following lines to use MariaDB instead of SQLite for improved performance & scalability:
  mariadb:
    image: mariadb:10.5
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: mysqld --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci --max-connections=512 --innodb-rollback-on-timeout=OFF --innodb-lock-wait-timeout=50
    volumes:
      - ""/var/lib/mysql""
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: PASSWORDHERE
      MYSQL_USER: photoprism
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: DIFFERENTPASSWORDHERE
      MYSQL_DATABASE: photoprism

Start Photoprism

docker-compose up -d

Test Photoprism

Does it work?

In a web browser, go to https://IP_ADDRESS_OF_YUNOHOST:2342 Ex. On my local network, I go to http://192.168.1.181:2342.
Type in your password.
Look around the interface.

Do A Small Test Import

Put a collection of photos, say 1 month, or one event of photos in the previously defined import folder.

NOTE: Before importing, I would suggest turning off Stacks. Stacks automatically ‘stacks’ photos together that it thinks are the same photo, or if they are named in a similar fashion. Right now, there is no way to batch unstack a photo, so you could have a photo with 10-20 photos ‘stacked’ inside of it and the only way to unstack it is to painfully click ‘unstack’, wait 10 seconds for it to do it, then go the the next one and do it again. Anyways, trust me…*uncheck the stacks option. Go to Settings > General and uncheck the 3 options in Stacks.

To start the import you can do it in two ways:
- In the web browser: Library > Move > check the Move Files tickbox > Click Import. You can watch it’s progress in Library > Logs
- From the command line: docker-compose exec photoprism photoprism import
During the import:
- Use htop to check your RAM utilization. If you have lots of RAM you can even turn off the 2 workers setting in the docker-compose.yml
- Use other services on Yunohost to see if they are functioning. Photoprism uses more RAM while importing, so it won’t be a major problem except for your first big import.
After the import:
- Browse your collection to make sure you like Photoprism and want to continue
- Think about how and when you will import the rest of your photos, do it overnight. It could take a few days. I had 176 GB of photos and it took me about 3-4 days.

Make it work on Public URL

Create a Domain for Photoprism sudo yunohost domain add photo.domain.tld
Install Certificate for the Domain sudo yunohost domain cert-install photo.domain.tld
Install Redirect Nginx App sudo yunohost app install redirect

Label for Redirect: Photoprism (what you want to show in Yunohost SSO tile)
Choose a domain for your redirect: photo.domain.tld
Choose a path for your redirect: /
Redirect destination path: http://localhost:2342/
Redirect type: nginx,proxypass (no need for password on Photoprism, but double safe to keep it on there)

Remove Floating Yunohost Button The floating navigation button is very intrusive when using Photoprism on mobile. It gets in the way, so the best thing is to disable it. sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/photos.domain.tld.d/redirect.conf

Comment out these lines:

#Include SSOWAT user panel.
#include conf.d/yunohost_panel.conf.inc;
#more_clear_input_headers 'Accept-Encoding';

Photoprism Maintenance

If you change options in docker-compose.yml, restart the container:

docker-compose stop photoprism
docker-compose up -d --no-deps photoprism

To update the Docker image:

docker-compose pull photoprism
docker-compose stop photoprism
docker-compose up -d --no-deps photoprism

Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 23:41:08 +0000

“Wolves Eat Dogs by Martin Cruz Smith Arkady Renko #5

Though there are 9 books in this Arkady Renko series, this shall be the last book I read. I have been warned that the books take a nosedive in quality after this one, and the Goodreads ratings bear this out.

This story is about a murky murder/suicide? of a rich businessman that connects to Chernobyl and the Zone of Exclusion. This one took awhile to get interesting and I was getting a bit annoyed until I hit the 30% mark. In standard Martin Cruz Smith fashion, there is a complex, layered plot that keeps you guessing right until the end. Does Arkady ‘enter’ a lady he meets along the way? Of course! Does Arkady still pine for Irina? Yes! Does Arkady piss lots of people off? Duh!

This book is classic Arkady Renko. I have been warned to not read farther in the series, so I will take a break for now.

STILL NOT AS GOOD AS ‘POLAR STAR’ THOUGH! Seriously, read Gorky Park, and then Polar Star.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #125 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Chernobyl #crime #murder #USSR #MartinCruzSmith #ArkadyRenko”,

Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 23:32:46 +0000

“Red Square by Martin Cruz Smith Arkady Renko #3

This is the one where Renko finally gets to see Irina again. The ending is still a bit muddled for me, did she die, did she not? I’m not sure. I don’t think reading #4 in the series before this helped me. This book felt like the end of a mini-Renko-in-Russia-series.

Another superb detective thriller by the master Martin Cruz Smith. For me, it still can’t compare to Polar Star, but that’s just because of my predilection towards boats and the arctic.

I will be really sad once I’ve read all of this series.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #124 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Russia #crime #murder #USSR #KGB #MartinCruzSmith #ArkadyRenko”,

The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 23:25:04 +0000

“The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Let’s just say it - 2020 has fucking sucked. As this awful year comes to a close, I have found myself going back to comfort reads like Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin, the naughty brat, and his sidekick, a stuffed tiger named Hobbes are just what I need at the moment.

I grew up with these comics, and have probably read this when I was younger, but this didn’t stop me from snapping this up when I saw it at the used bookstore. This comic has aged well in my opinion. I feel most of these comics are even funnier now that I am a father myself. I have a little monster that is kinda like Calvin, so these strips really speak to me.

Book #123 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Comic #BillWatterson”,

Photoprism for self-hosted photo management

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 15:33:15 +0000

Photoprism: A true Google Photos replacement?

In my quest to rid myself of all Google services, and self-host all that I can, I found Photoprism awhile back as a possible Google Photos replacement. I tried it before, but it felt slightly unpolished so I decided to wait a bit for it to improve, but now that Google has announced they will start charging for storage on Google Photos, I decided to give Photoprism another shot.

Check out the Photoprism Demo to see what it looks like.

If it looks interesting, keep reading about my experience trying to get it to run (smoothly!).

If you’re on Yunohost, see my Yunohost installation guide.

Server Specifications

This is the system I am installing it on.

Lenovo Ideacentre Q190

Intel® Mobile Celeron® Dual-Core 1017U (1.60GHz 2MB)
4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333 MHz
Debian 10

Installation #1

I followed the photoprism guide to install Docker Compose before beginning. I edited the volumes in the docker-compose.yml from my old installation and started indexing my huge photo collection.

This turned out to be a rookie move. My 176 GB photo collection took 202,000 seconds (about 56 hours) to index. Photoprism showed that I had 46,036 photos after finishing indexing.

Problems:

Scrolling through photos is slow. After indexing my photos, my photo collection grew by many GB. The jpg thumbnails, and metadata files take up lots of space. My hard drive is only a 5400 RPM drive, I’m not sure how much speed I would get from moving to a 7200 RPM or even SATAIII SSD drive.
No batch editing! The only batch feature is highlighting many files to add them to an album, or archive them. This is a major problem.
Poor support for older video formats.
No way to delete photos from within the web browser interface.
No facial recognition. Hard to keep track of the people in my photos except by manually ‘tagging’ people by keywords.

Installation #2

After exploring the docker-compose.yml file some more, and reading up on things I changed my thinking of how to run this. I moved the installation to my Lenovo Ideacentre Q190 running Yunohost. I put the volumes on my RAID1 3 TB 7200 RPM drives. I also discovered there is an option to use MariaDB or even MySQL instead of SQLite. It even says ““use MariaDB for better performance”” in the docker-compose file.

Also in Installation #1, my sidecar files, thumbnails, & metadata files were in a docker volume which is annoying. I changed the location for these files to be in my photo album.

/mnt/hermes (my RAID1 setup) /mnt/hermes/Pictures/import (folder to put files I want to add) /mnt/hermes/Pictures/originals (the organized area of my photos, after being imported) /mnt/hermes/Pictures/.photoprism (the database, sidecar and metadata files are stored here now)

This installation started so, so very fast. I could browse the files it added very quickly. Unfortunately, it bogged down my Yunohost system very quickly. This system only has 1 GB of swap space, and is running Nextcloud, my blog, and XMPP on it. It reached 100% CPU utilization very quickly, maxed out my 4 GB RAM, and my pitiful 1 GB swap space and the whole system became unresponsive.

Installation #3

Changed ‘workers’ setting to 2.
Switched my 1 GB swap partition, to a 5 GB swapfile.

This time it worked much better. Using ‘htop’ I could see RAM utilization hovering about 2.7-3 GB, and 1.5 GB of swap being used. All other services were responsive during indexing.

Stats After Indexing original pictures folder: 151 GB .photoprism sidecar/thumbnail folder: 72 GB

Tips!

Give your photos a huge disk to live on. I would make a disk at least 3x or 4x times the size of your photos to give them room to grow because the metadata/sidecar/thumbnails take up lots of space.
Make the /.photoprism directory a part of your photo directory so you can easily move your whole collection to another bigger drive, or another computer in the future.
Use MariaDB, or MySQL, don’t use the default SQLite.
Turn off ‘Stacks’ in settings before you import photos. It’s super time consuming to ‘unstack’ photos.

Final Thoughts

Despite some of its shortcomings (batch editing, facial recognition), using Photoprism is still better than continuing to entrust my photos to Google Photos, and having to pay them for using my data.

And a big thank you Google! If you didn’t decide to charge for Google Photos, I don’t think I would’ve taken the plunge and committed to using Photoprism. I hope many people start improving, funding, and using this in the coming months. I am going to kick a $50 USD donation right now.

Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith

Wed, 02 Dec 2020 15:10:24 +0000

“Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith Arkady Renko #4

I read the first book in the series, Gorky Park, and then jumped into this book. This is the 4th book in the series. I read this out of order because when viewing ebooks on my Kobo it is impossible to see what order a book series is in.

Irregardless of the order I read this book in, it was another classic detective murder mystery. I am on a Martin Cruz Smith tear right now! I read Polar Star (#2) right after this, and am currently steaming through Red Square (#3).

Don’t be like me though, please read the books in order. If you don’t, you miss out on the meta-narrative of the Irina-Renko ‘relationship’.

I didn’t like Havana Bay as much as the novels set in Russia, but it was still a great read, and far better than any other detective novels I’ve read before. Martin Cruz Smith is a master at piecing together a believable, exciting, and gritty detective story.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #121 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Cuba #crime #murder #USSR #KGB #MartinCruzSmith #ArkadyRenko”,

Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:20:48 +0000

“Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith

Arkady Renko #2

Another detective novel? YES! This iteration finds Renko in exile from Moscow working on a fishing factory ship in the Bering Sea in a joint US-Russia operation. A girl is found dead in the net and Renko is called upon to investigate, once they learn he used to be an investigator.

The level of detail, and research that went into this book shows. There are diagrams of the main boats where the story takes place. The dialogue is witty, and realistic. Renko is no superhero, but I really feel for him. He’s ‘real’.

This book is the kind of thriller that you read late into the night before realizing it’s hours past your ‘bedtime’. The ending was very, very satisfying.

This novel combines some of my favorite things: ships, the arctic, detective, and a historical setting.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #122 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Russia #crime #murder #USSR #fishing #MartinCruzSmith #ArkadyRenko”,

From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 16:04:08 +0000

From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman

I was given this book by a friend in my book group. It has sat on my shelf for a long time. I have read many books on Palestine in the mean time. I finally picked it up and read through it. This is a remarkably fair, and balanced account by a Jewish New York Times correspondent who lived in Beirut and then in Israel too.

The most interesting chapters for me were the ones about the PLO, and the ones about the Jewish perspective on the conflict. In my mind, Israel has always been the bad guy, but some of the writing in this book has made me see that Israel itself is quite a divided place among the Jews. They probably want to be rid of Palestine, but they don’t really know how.

On the cover, there is a quote along the lines of ““if you only can read one book about the Middle East, this should be it””. I totally agree with that statement. Israel is at the middle of all the problems in the Middle East; understanding Israel, its history, and its people helps you understand the whole region a lot better.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #120 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Eyewitness: Flags

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 08:15:55 +0000

Eyewitness: Flags

I recently found a whole treasure trove of old Eyewitness books at Mollie’s Used Book store recently. This was one of the new titles I picked up.

As with other books in the series, Eyewitness books are like mini-museums on specific topics. This one was about flags. First, there are some chapters on historical use of flags, and then terminology and parts of the flag. Then, the book has individual chapters on countries and their flags. Sometimes more than one flag is grouped together because of circumstances related to the history of their flags.

These books were my lifeline when I was growing up, before there was high-speed internet. It’s all well and good to read about the world, but it’s even better to have a reference book full of pictures to see the world too.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #119 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 14:33:18 +0000

“Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #10)

I had heard of the book, and the author so I had slightly higher expectations than I should’ve had. I was expecting a bit more action and intrigue than I got in this one. Maybe I’m just not a big mystery fan, because this book didn’t really do it for me.

Rating: ★★ Book #118 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #mystery #AgathaChristie #train #murder #HerculePoirot”,

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 17:12:57 +0000

“Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

The third book I’ve read by Orwell, and it is as good as people say it is. He writes in a clear manner about a very complicated time, the Spanish civil war in the 1930s. If you didn’t know, he volunteered to fight in the P.O.U.M. militia against Franco and the fascists. This experience in the war shaped his worldview, and you can start to feel where he got the dystopian world of 1984 from. You can read more about Orwell and his most famous book, ““1984"” by reading The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s ““1984"".

This book switches back and forth between his personal experience in fighting at the front with his militia and his analysis of the political situation, the infighting between ““Trotskyists””, Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists.

Personally, I had never even really heard of this war. I had heard the name Franco, and knew he was a Bad Guy, but knew little of the history of the region. This was a great book to get to know about this conflict, and to learn more about Orwell’s experience in the war.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #117 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #war #SpanishCivilWar #GeorgeOrwell #Catalonia”,

KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann

Wed, 04 Nov 2020 14:34:52 +0000

“KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps by Nikolaus Wachsmann

Nazis are bad mmmkay? This is basic knowledge we are taught in school. We are also taught that one of the reasons Nazis were bad was because of concentration camps. I have been fascinated with WW2 since I was a kid. I wrote a paper on Hitler in the 4th grade, and read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich around that time. I never actually learned that much about concentration camps though. I remember knowing that about 6 million Jews were killed during the war in the camps, and they just killed people all the time in th camps. These facts I learned in school are basically true, but it isn’t the whole story behind the concentration camps.

This book goes far deeper than any I’ve read about WW2. It takes you back to when the camps were setup. In the beginning, they were mostly used to put political rivals and members of the intelligentsia in ‘protective custody’ so the Nazis could solidify their grip on the state. It was also used as a warning to others who would resist them.

It covers all aspects of the camps from the political games at the top played by Himmler. It describes what life was like for the ‘special’ squad who were tasked with cleaning up the dead bodies after they were gassed. It also goes into detailed explanation about other methods of killing the Nazis used before they settled on gassing + crematoria. It talked about labour projects the SS setup to try to make money, and make armaments for the war. It described the lavish lifestyle the SS officers enjoyed. It detailed the camp organizational structure and how they were physical setup.

This is the be-all-end-all book about concentration camps. No book about The Third Reich would be complete without a thorough explanation of the concentration camps. The scholarship that went into this book is incredible. It is incredibly detailed, but also ‘easy’ to read, as much as a book about this topic can be. A 800+ page book seems daunting, but it is worth it. We should learn our history, lest we repeat it.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #116 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #WW2 #Nazi #ConcentrationCamp #History #NonFiction”,

That We May Live by Two Lines Press

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:56:40 +0000

“That We May Live by Two Lines Press

““The essential idea behind Calico is, let’s talk to the translators… find out what’s interesting, what’s not being published in English, what’s percolating in other parts of the world that we haven’t heard about yet. THAT WE MAY LIVE is a collection of speculative Chinese fiction… of unnerving, uncanny, weird stories about urbanization and late capitalism.””

For me, this really sparked my interested: translated Chinese fiction, speculative fiction! I’m in! Sadly, this collection didn’t live up to my high expectations, but I still enjoyed most of the stories.

First off, the book was a unique size. It was a square. The title page of each story had a quote in Chinese and English on a beautifully designed red grid-like pattern.

Although I didn’t like all the stories, there were a few I really like and this is now leading me to seek out those authors. I like diving into sort of unknown collections like this so I can be introduced to new authors that I wouldn’t normally encounter. I guess that’s party the reason I love translated fiction so much, I am always striving to break out of my North American-European-English-bubble.

““Sour Meat”” By Dorothy Tse ★★★★

Translated from Chinese by Natascha Bruce

““Auntie Han’s Modern Life”” By Enoch Tam ★★

Translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

““Lip Service”” By Zhu Hui ★★★★

Translated from Chinese by Michael Day

I really liked this one. A look at the life of a woman newscaster, and her hidden life.

““The Elephant”” By Chan Chi Wa

Translated from Chinese by Audrey Heijns

““The Mushroom Houses Proliferated in District M”” By Enoch Tam ★★

Translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

This definitely a story about the rage of overpriced housing in Asia, and scammy developers.

““A Counterfeit Life”” By Chen Si’an ★★★

Translated from Chinese by Canaan Morse

I like the downbeat, analysis of why do we really want a boring 9-5 job? This is a good 2020 story about people who .

““Flourishing Beasts”” By Yan Ge ★★★★

Translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

This was only a chapter from a whole book about Mythical Chinese Beasts. It sounds super interesting. The book is actually being made into a TV show. Learn more about this unique book/story here with this interview with the author.

These stories were all so unique, I think I may actually benefit from re-reading them again. I think a lot of them have lots of metaphors and allusions as they have been written in China, a repressive authoritarian country that does not like literature that analyzes, pokes fun at, or exposes the ills its government.

Rating: ★★★ Book #115 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #CalicoSeries #TwoLinesPress #ChineseLit #SpeculativeFiction #TranslatedFiction”,

Hazardous Tales Number: 2-3

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 17:17:37 +0000

2,3, 5 & 6 of Nathan Hale’s The Hazardous Tales Series ★★★★★

All these graphic novels take a historical event, and package it in a bit of humour, and make it easily digestible to all. It tries to make history ‘cool’ and ‘fun’ for teens and I think it succeeds.

At the back of every book, he lists a bibliography of books used to research the book. He calls that section the ““research babies””. There is also the ““correction baby”” that handles questions on historically inaccurate things in the story. He also often has historical pictures, and or diagrams about the real characters in the story at the back of the book.

This is a great series. I ordered Hazardous Tales #7-10 already. I could read #7 & #8 on Epic! but I shall wait and read the paper copy. I want to savour the last 3 books in this series. I’m not sure if Nathan Hale is still creating these stories. I sure hope so. I wish there were historical graphic novels like this focusing on Canadian events. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for one!

Big, Bad Ironclad #2 ★★★

This one is about a naval conflict in the American Civil war involving ‘ironclad’ ships. I never heard about this battle before. It was pretty interesting.

Donner Dinner Party #3 ★★★★★

This one was gruesome. There were so many deaths. This was about the Donner Party and their trek across America to California. They took a bad ‘shortcut’ called the Hastings cutoff and almost died.

The Underground Abductor #5 ★★★★

This was about the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses and people who helped slaves escape the South. It focused on person who was very good at guiding slaves North, her freename was Harriet Tubman. Now I know who this is! I have heard this name before but didn’t know who it was.

Alamo All-Stars #6 ★★★★

I’ve watched the 2004 movie ““The Alamo””. It was far less exciting than this graphic novel. It did help me have a picture of how things kinda looked in my head though. The Alamo was a legendary loss for the Americans, but it became a rallying symbol in Texan’s fight for land in Texas.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #111-114 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 08:15:51 +0000

“One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #1)

I read Hazardous Tales #4 before I read this one, but I understand why some people say you should read this one first. This one introduces the narrators, and the whole setup of the series.

This book is about a spy for the American continental army during the American War of Independence. Now my American history is not all that great, I am Canadian after all, but this was an interesting book. I learned about the spy, and the general ebb and flow of the war.

Now, for me this wasn’t as interesting as Hazardous Tales #4, because I’m just not that into American history. I will still go and read the rest of the books in this series now because I discovered them on (Epic!)[https://getepic.com/]. There is another WW2 one about the bombing of Hiroshima I believe. I’m looking forward to reading that.

This whole series is great if you want to: learn history, not get bogged down with every little detail, and have some jokes in there too.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #110 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #America #HazardousTales #GraphicNovel #NathanHale”,

Treaties

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 08:07:45 +0000

Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale",“Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #4)

An incredible graphic novel that uses humour, facts, and cut animals to tell the incredibly complicated story of World War 1 (WW1).

Hale uses 3 narrators to keep the story moving along. There is Nathan Hale, American spy who was hanged (in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #1), the hangman, and the British soldier who escorted the spy. It is actually the hangman’s idea to tell the story with cute animals for each country because he found the story so boooorrring.

The author tells the story with the animals taking the place of countries and it really works. It takes a gruesome tale of a very, stupid, pointless war, and makes it digestible. I read through this in one hour, but I think I could find myself re-reading it to savour the graphics again, or even brush up on the key events of WW1. Of course, in a graphic novel, he cannot go into every nitty gritty little detail, but he certainly got the main points down, and made it exciting, and a joy to read.

I hope teenagers discovery this series and have fun learning history with it! But adults can enjoy this too. It is funny. Trust me!

Rating: ★★★ Book #109 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #GraphicNovel #WW1 #war #Europe #HazardousTales #NathanHale”,

The Plotters by Un-su Kim

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 07:59:19 +0000

Now this was a wacky book. It’s about a hitman who works for a Plotter. A Plotter is the mastermind of the hits, who assigns missions to hitmen. There is some drama between some of the Plotters and the hitman is caught in the middle of it. Then the hitman works together with some unlikely allies and fights back.

This was a short, weird, and cool little book. I love the setting, and the whole concept of Plotters. It feels like medieval guilds, and their codes of honour.

Not much else to say about this, read it if you like strange, but interesting translated fiction from Korea.

Rating: ★★★ Book #108 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Story of a Secret State: My Report to the World by Jan Karski

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 07:47:25 +0000

“Story of a Secret State: My Report to the World by Jan Karski

This book is about an agent in the Polish Underground during its WW2 occupation by Nazi Germany. This is an incredible narrative of being called up in the army, escaping from captivity, living through occupation, becoming part of the Underground, how the Underground works, getting tortured, escaping again, and delivering secret documents to the Polish Government in Exile. I don’t think I could accurately describe this book in a way that does it justice. It is incredible.

It is fascinating the detail in which he explains the workings of the Underground. Before reading this book, all I knew about Poland was that they were invaded first in WW2. This book details the bravery, and determination in which Poland fought Germany. They made sure that nobody cooperated with the Germans. They didn’t want any quislings. If they found Polish people collaborating with them, they killed them. If they found people reading Germany newspapers on the days that the Polish ones were banned, people threw bricks at them. Even though the Nazis were killing innocent civilians to try and retaliate against the Underground, they did not stop. This was total war.

This book really captures the down in the streets life of the resistance, life of the people, and even how the secret Underground newspapers operate. I’ve read lots of books about WW2 but never one about the resistance, and especially the resistance in Poland. A must-read for anybody even remotely interested in WW2.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #107 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #WW2 #NaziGermany #Poland #War #Biography #JanKarski”,

Eyewitness: Battle vs. Arms & Armour

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 21:16:54 +0000

Eyewitness: Battle vs. Arms & Armour

Both of these books are filled with vivid pictures of guns, swords, and other implements of death. The artistry in which humans kill other humans, makes our species a unique one. We are constantly inventing ‘better’ ways to kill each other. These books have beautiful pictures of weapons from the caveman days all the way to World War 1.

While both of these books were a delight to flip through, and learn obscure details of historic weapons, Eyewitness: Battle was the better book overall. Battle had a better narrative throughout the book. It not only showed you the weapons, but it put them in context. It showed you why certain weapons were used at certain times; it just fit together better.

One minor quibble I had, the books were both primarily focused on land warfare. I was really hoping there would be some information on sailing ships, and the cannons they used.

Ratings:

Battle ★★★★★
Arms & Armour ★★★

Book #105 & 106 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 22:07:09 +0000

“Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah

A mind bending, translated novel from a Korean author. It unfolds simple enough, but then twists in on itself, and some things repeat, and you start to wonder what is real, and what isn’t.

This one was surreal, and weird. It was also exciting trying to hold onto the thread and see where the author was going.

I’m not sure I still fully understand what happened in the novel, but it was a good experience with fantastic imagery. The way she describes moving through the city, and the conversations some of the characters have in the story are great.

If you want a short (152 pages), quirky book, try this out. Don’t expect a straightforward narrative though! Also, not sure why the reviews are so harsh on GoodReads. This is a solid 4 star book, if you can follow her dream-like writing.

Also read some of the much better reviews of this novel on GoodReads (excerpts below)

Bae Suah likes to challenge readers used to more conventional plot lines and character development. In “Untold Night and Day” identities are blurred, chronology is warped, time and space are stretched and exist in parallel to others.

Kamila Kunda

+++

Incredible. Lucid writing and translation, singular characters, and a propulsive story that pulls the rug out from under your feet. The comparison with David Lynch is apt, with recurring motifs & moving from reality to the surreal. I almost understood what was happening, but not quite. Ideas of memory & the impermanence of things, & she plays with blindness & vision. Tightly written, engaging and will give your brain a workout.

Anna Baillie-Karas

+++

To read Untold Night and Day is to stand on shifting ground. This is a story that always operates according to dream logic, in which identities are malleable and the impossible becomes unremarkable.

Blair

Rating: ★★★★ Book #104 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Surreal #TranslatedFiction #BaeSuah”,

Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:56:23 +0000

“Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick

A collection of short stories by the very well known sci-fi author, Philip K. Dick. There are many well known stories in here like Minority Report, and We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (short story Total Recall based on) but lots of other more unknown works too.

I recently watched the 2017 TV series ““Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams”", which prompted me to read this short story collection. It was interesting to read short stories, after already watching the TV shows, and movies they inspired. It’s interesting to see what gets added and changed once a short story becomes a movie or TV show.

List of the stories in this collection and the movies/TV shows they inspired

Beyond Lies the Wub
Roog
Paycheck (movie: Paycheck (2003))
Second Variety (movie: Screamers (1995))
Imposter
The King of the Elves
Adjustment Team (inspiration for ““The Adjustment Bureau”” movie)
Foster, You’re Dead (Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams E09 - ““Safe and Sound”")
Upon the Dull Earth
Autofac (Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams E08 - ““Autofac”")
The Minority Report (turned into movie of the same name)
The Days of Perky Pat
Precious Artifact
A Game of Unchance
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (movie ““Total Recall”” (1990) and (2012))
Faith of our Fathers
The Electric Ant
A Little Something for Us Tempunauts
The Exit Door Leads In
Rautavaara’s Case
I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon

Overall this was a good selection of stories and they weren’t too long. There were a few clunky ones in there, but still they were amusing for me. The title of this book is pretty lame, and so is the cover art but that’s just me being nit picky.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #103 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #SciFi #ShortStory #PhilpKDick”,

Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World by Roy A. Adkins

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 09:14:29 +0000

“Nelson’s Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World by Roy A. Adkins

I had never heard of this battle before reading this book (my colonial Canadian education failed me!). It was a very interesting, and super detailed look at the importance of the battle, the hour-by-hour rundown of the battle including many maps, and then lots of afterword about how the battle was important.

The first 196 pages are incredible actually. He is great at explaining the action of the battle, with great footnotes. He goes off on tangents at times but I loved those because you got to learn about ship life, and even where ship slang came from. The tangents reminded me of all the interesting chapters about life on a whaling ship in Moby Dick. I sorta disliked the book, but really enjoyed learning about whaling ships.

Now let’s talk about page 197-326, these were a slog. He has one whole long chapter of excerpts of sailor’s letters to their moms and dad. It just got really boring, really fast. This book could’ve been condensed a lot. I don’t think the author was trying to pad the page count, I truly feel he is passionate about Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar, but the editor should’ve stepped in and condensed the last half of the book.

It had lots of diagrams and maps, but could’ve used an extra diagram or two showing parts of a sailing ship. During the battle, in the excerpts from officer letters, many times they refer to all sorts of ship parts and it’s hard to keep them straight at times.

All-in-all, this is an important book, about an important battle for the nascent British empire but it fizzled out at the end, and became a bore. I’ve read lots, and lots of history books, so I’m not bored by history, but by the end I was just praying for this book to finish.

Rating: ★★★ Book #102 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #BritishEmpire #war #history #NavalWarfare”,

The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 22:34:00 +0000

Wu Ming-Yi certainly never disappoints in the ‘weird’ department. I’m not sure I can even accurately describe the book I just read, but I’ll try. The book is set in the present, or near future, where a huge ‘trash vortex’ is breaking up in the middle of the ocean. It washes up along the shores of Taiwan, and other places. We move through this event through the current lives, and memories of a few different people: a university professor, her foreign husband, an aboriginal forest manager, an aboriginal cafe owner, and a boy from a ‘dream’ island. I’ll stop right there because I can’t really describe it in more detail without re-telling the story.

This was a strange book, but it was interesting. I’m still mulling over certain parts of the book to understand what happened. After writing this, I will have to read a few other reviews to try and get my head around some parts, especially the parts with ‘the man with the compound eyes’.

I liked many parts of this book, but as a whole it gel together and satisfy me. I will still say though, I liked all the different characters and their backstories.

Rating: ★★★ Book #101 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai (Li Po) by Ha Jin

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 20:47:42 +0000

“The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai (Li Po) by Ha Jin

A highly readable narrative of a famous Late Tang poet, Li Bai. The text is a tale of the poet’s life, and travels. The biography gives you context to better appreciate the poetry that the author puts in along the way. I like how Ha Jin inserts the poetry into the narrative, so you can see where Li Bai was in his life, and how that affected his poetry. The poetry is written in Mandarin Chinese characters, and with an English translation.

My White Hair Long, long is my whitening hair; Long, long is it laden with care. I look into my mirror bright. From where comes autumn frost in sight?

Sadly it is very hard to find Li Bai’s poetry online in a bilingual format. I would like to read the Chinese poetry with pinyin/zhuyin and then the translation to better appreciate it.

I wish I truly read, and spoke more Chinese so I could dive into these classics. It’s amazing that a culture still reveres poets from a thousand years ago. Also, the characters are still readable to the common Chinese speaker. Simply incredible to think about it. It’s like reaching across time when you read a poem 1000 years old.

Also, I read my 100th book this year! I still have a few months to go too. I have smashed my goal.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #100 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Poetry #ChinesePoetry #Biography #HaJin”,

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:58:03 +0000

“The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Premise: What was it like to be a ‘prize’ (slave girl) in the Trojan War? What about Achilles' slave girl? Interested?

This interesting premise is the crux of The Silence of the Girls. This is essentially a retelling of Homer’s Illiad from the perspective of the women who got caught in it. Don’t worry, the sex is not too graphic, but just detailed enough to let the reader fill-in-the-blanks. If you haven’t read The Illiad, the book might feel ‘hollow’ and lacking depth. You also won’t know the major plot points of story, but seriously, who hasn’t read The Illiad? If you haven’t, go read it!

This is a good book because it puts women back into the narrative of a historical event. Unfortunately, we don’t have a women’s perspective on the Trojan War (as far as I know) because women were not the historians in that time. Sometimes when you read books like The Illiad, it seems women were doing nothing but making babies, or being fought over. This book aims to destroy that one-sided male perspective.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #99 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #PatBarker #TrojanWar #TheIlliad #HistoricalFiction”,

Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past by Jessica J. Lee

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 22:02:32 +0000

“Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan’s Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family’s Past by Jessica J. Lee

“Two Trees Make a Forest is a finely faceted meditation on memory, love, landscape — and finding a home in language. Its short, shining sections tilt yearningly towards one another; in form as well as content, this is a beautiful book about the distance between people and between places, and the means of their bridging.” — Robert Macfarlane

This is about a woman discovering, reminiscing about her Taiwanese roots, trying to unmuddle her parent’s & grandparent’s history. The narrative thread that ties it all together is her travel through the mountains, and on the coasts of Taiwan. She also talks about the flora and fauna of Taiwan a lot. I enjoyed those bits too because I used to hike a lot in Taiwan, but since I didn’t grow up here, I’m totally clueless about the local plants.

Since her grandparents were born in China, and got caught up in WW2, and participated in the mass migration to Taiwan, this is also a history book. It’s not too deep though, so this is a good book for people unfamiliar with the history of China/Taiwan. I actually bought two copies of this book, one for me and one for great-grandma in Canada.

An incredible book that weaves together a family history she is grasping to understand once her grandparents are long gone. I feel like this author. I’m Greek-Canadian but my Greek grandparents and father died when I was young. I wish I could’ve picked their brain and heard more of their stories before they left. I have some old photos, so sometimes I go through them and try to imagine what their life was like. How did they feel about moving from Greece to Canada? I am now an expat myself, so it feels like I come from a long line of expats (3rd generation!). I guess wandering is in my family’s blood.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #98 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #JessicaJLee #Taiwan #history #memoir #biography #China”,

Boardgame Guide for Taiwan

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 12:44:10 +0000

This guide is for English speakers that are looking to buy board games, and accessories in Taiwan.

WHERE TO BUY?

Swan Panasia Games

https://boardgamer.org/ ✔ Largest game selection ✔ Stable website ✔ Huge selection of accessories: card sleeves, boxes, and other things ✔ Always remember to ship tax receipt in the box ✔ Usually have a promotions: spend $1000/2000/3000 and up and get a free game, get points for every order too

GoKids

https://www.gokids.com.tw/ ✔ Mostly focused on younger kids, with limited selection of ‘serious’ board games ✘ Terrible website - difficult to navigate ✘ Always ““forget”” to include tax receipt in the box, need to call/email to remind them ✘ Don’t bring many new games to Taiwan every year

Kanga Games

http://kangagames.com/ ✔ English website ✔ Good selection of silly games for kids, and abstract games ✘ Very small selection of games compared to other big 2 companies

Taiwan Boardgame Design

https://www.tbd.com.tw ✔ Locally designed games! ✘ Small selection

WHERE TO RESEARCH GAMES?

BoardGame Geek (BBG)

https://boardgamegeek.com/ ✔ Easy to compare games here: complexity, ratings, reviews from other users ✔ Can download PDF copies of game rule books ✘ Need account to download PDFs

The Dice Tower reviews

https://www.dicetower.com/

Video reviews of games
Multiple reviewers
Can also find the reviews on YouTube

Game Boy Geek reviews

https://www.gameboygeek.com/

Video reviews of games
Reviewer looks like Stuart from The Big Bang :D

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

Wed, 16 Sep 2020 12:34:42 +0000

“Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

Arkady Renko #1

Stellar detective/crime novel! I literally couldn’t put this down at times, and ended up going to sleep very late some nights. The novel follows Chief Investigator Arkady Renko in the Soviet Union as he investigates a brutal triple murder in Moscow. This is no simple investigation because he also has to navigate the murky realm of Russian politics, with the FBI and KGB getting their hands in there too. The author is really great at making you feel like you’re in Russia. He adds lots of color to his writing with his description of the setting. The dialogue is witty, and believable too. This book could just be made into a movie and be better than 90% of the lame murder movies out there. Why hasn’t it been done yet?

This book almost feels like two books in 1; the first part is about the murder investigation, and then the 2nd part is about the ‘killer’.

This is the start of the Arkady Renko series. The first 3 novels in the series have over 4 stars on GoodReads, but after that they start to drop in quality. That’s good to know, for when I have another hankering for political intrigue and murder in Russia.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #97 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Russia #crime #murder #USSR #KGB #MartinCruzSmith #ArkadyRenko”,

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 12:57:20 +0000

“Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflexion of the voice, at the most, an occasional word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength. would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? And yet–!

Reading the ‘book biography’ about 1984, The Ministry of Truth, led me to rediscovering this favorite book from my childhood. So I decided to re-read it. Let me also state, I never re-read books. This is the first book I have ever read. It was great. It was like finding a long-lost friend.

In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.

This book is so prescient. Orwell really understood how communist and fascists operated. He wrote a book that explained it all, and showed us the terror that will be inflicted on us, ‘the proles’, if totalitarianism is allowed to conquer liberal democracies.

The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.

This book is a like a well done documentary, you don’t need to explain what it feels like to live under an oppressive government, Orwell explains how it feels through Winston’s experiences. He takes us through this hell with Winston, an ordinary nobody, who gets caught up in the gears of the Party.

Winston is just trying to survive, but he just can’t contain his curiosity about the propaganda he hears. He starts to doubt the what the Party declares to be the truth. ““Didn’t the chocolate ration go down instead of up?””

Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Not in the individual mind, which can make mistakes, and in any case perishes: only in the mind of the Party, which is collective and immortal. Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party. That is the fact that you’ve got to relearn, Winston. It needs an act of self-destruction, an effort of the will. you must humble yourself before you can become sane.

This chilling little bit of humour (?) from O’Brien when Winston is in the Ministry of Love.

I enjoy talking to your. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.

I imagine Chinese political meetings talking about their goals for the Xinjiang ‘education centers’ probably sound something like this…

Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery is torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but MORE merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain.

The book also contains this very famous quote, from just before Nazis put their boots all over Europe.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.

I like the ending, Winston ‘loses’, but does he? He lived a few moments of freedom with Julia, but was eventually erased at the end. A person who thinks outside the predefined and every changing boundaries of what is acceptable thought is too dangerous to the Party.

To die hating them, that was freedom.

Six star rating for this one. I could probably re-read this book every five years and find something to enjoy in it every time.

Rating: ★★★★★★! Book #96 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Classic #GeorgeOrwell #1984 #dystopia”,

The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 23:06:23 +0000

“The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

We lift our eye to the heavens, but we live on the ground.

This is certainly an author to watch if you like beautiful fantasy stories, without all the Tolkien-esque standards you may be used to. This is the type of storybook I would gladly read to my daughter, or give as a gift to a young teen.

The story is about a ‘the wrong boy’ who is not that gifted in anything really, but has to take care of some magic and becomes a bit brave in the process all while saving everybody!

When I first finished this, I thought it was better than the author’s second book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, but upon further reflection, I’m not sure I still feel that way. I am sure though, that both of these novels are great, and have enough action, and wit, to keep an adult as entertained as a teenager.

This novel also reminded me a bit of the Earthsea series because it isn’t your ‘typical’ YA fantasy novel, and her interesting characters.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #95 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #Fantasy #YA #KellyBarnhill”,

Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984 by Dorian Lynskey

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 21:24:17 +0000

“Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell’s ““1984"” by Dorian Lynskey

This was an illuminating read which taught me so much about my childhood favorite book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. This book is part biography of George Orwell (aka Eric Blair), and part history book which explains the times Orwell was living in and how this affected him.

““1984"” was an important book when it was written during WW2, and is still important now as the world is teetering near the precipice towards: either WW3, a climate catastrophe, or a non-stop health epidemic.

If you like to learn about the books the author read, what influenced them, and learn about the history of the time a book was written - this is the book for you.

Reading this book biography has even spurred me into re-reading ““1984"”. This doesn’t seem like a big deal but I should note, I have never re-read any other book before. So far, my 2nd read is shaping up to be even more impactful than the 1st time I read it. It may be just that the whole world seems to be a massive dumpster fire right now, or maybe this book is just bloody brilliant.

From ““Looking back on the Spanish War”":

““I am willing to believe that history is for the most part inaccurate and biased, but what is peculiar to our own age is the abandonment of the idea that history could be truthfully written. In the past people deliberately lied, or they unconsciously coloured what they wrote, or they struggled after the truth, well knowing that they must make many mistakes.; but in each case they believed that ““the facts”” existed and were more or less discoverable…It is just this common basis of agreement, with its implication that human beings are all one species of animal, that totalitarianism destroys…The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past

Never has a more succinct summary of the Chinese regime ever been written. This was written in 1943 by George Orwell.

““It’s a sad commentary on our age that we find Dystopias a lot easier to believe in than Utopias: Utopias we can only imagine, Dystopias we’ve already had””

Margaret Atwood

A great Canadian author, and another favorite of mine, that was influenced by ““1984"”.

““There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the wold world, you were not mad””

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

It feels like truth is under assault right now all across the internet, and in the authoritarian regimes like North Korea, and China.

““If you pretend that it is merely an aberration which will presently pass off all of its own accord, you are dreaming a dream from which you will awake when somebody coshes you with a rubber truncheon””

Orwell predicting Xi Jingping, Putin, and Trump? No, that was Orwell writing about fascism in 1936. This quote is for the people who thinks we should be ‘kinder’ to fascists and not punch them in the face. Nope! Intolerance is intolerable.

““The future, at any rate the immediate future, is not with the ‘sensible’ men. The future is with the fanatics.

George Orwell, Time & Tide, June 8, 1940

This quote sort of reminds me about the religious violence book I just finished.

““Fascism after all is only a development of capitalism, and the mildest democracy, so-called, is liable to turn into Fascism when the pinch comes,”” - Orwell wrote to his friend Geoffrey Gorer in 1937

We are living in 1984. The essence of 1984 summed up by one of Orwell’s notes: ““The nightmare feeling caused by the disappearance of objective truth."" I wonder if this book would have as much of an impact on readers if we lived in a utopia with a 4 day workweek, free healthcare, and universal basic income?

““I know that I have a highly inconvenient habit of speaking what I consider to be the truth rather than saying what may be expedient at the moment.””

Yevgeny Zamyatin, letter to Stalin, 1929

““As soon as fear, hatred, jealousy and power worship are involved, the sense of reality becomes unhinged.””

George Orwell, ““Notes on Nationalism,"" 1945

Anybody who thinks they can negotiate, or co-exist with fascist governments is wrong. We can’t be soft on China. We can’t try to appease Russia or North Korea. Bullies see that as weakness. China won’t ‘give’ freedom to Hong Kong.

““The fallacy is to believe that under a dictatorial government you can be free inside…Out in the street the loudspeakers bellow, the flags flutter from the rooftops, the police with their tommy-guns prowl to and fro, the face of the Leader, four feet wide, glares from every hoarding; but up in the attic the secret enemies of the regime can record their thoughts in perfect freedom.””

We are at an important time in history; democracy is in ‘decline’, there is a worldwide pandemic battering the economy, and our Earth is in peril…ordinary people will have to step up to change the current trajectory we are on.

On socialism:

““perhaps the choice before man is always a choice of evils perhaps even the aim of Socialism is not to make the world perfect but to make it better. All revolutions are failures, but they are not all the same failure.””

–

““The people are not going to revolt. They will not look up from their screens long enough to notice whats really happening”” (from the play version of 1984)

I do, do hope that will not happen. We need to all wake-up and protect the values that are dear to us! Orwell has a huge breadth of writing that goes beyond ““1984"” and I have added many of his books to my ““To Read”” list.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #94 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #BookBiography #GeorgeOrwell #dystopia #fascism #1984 #DorianLynskey “,

Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence by Jonathan Sacks

Sat, 29 Aug 2020 08:30:59 +0000

“Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence by Jonathan Sacks

This wouldn’t normally be the type of book I would pick up, but the title intrigued me. The book was also on sale, so the rest is history now.

Rabbi Sacks makes theological arguments using scriptures and philosophers to make his various points of why we shouldn’t do violence unto others to convert them or because ‘our holy book’ tells us so. I really enjoyed the theological arguments he made, and learned a great deal about different Bible stories, and his interpretation of them. It’s great how he picks out the original Hebrew translations of certain parts of the bible to bring out the more nuanced meaning of some verses that seem to have been muddled over time.

I’m not sure I agree with his societal predictions or thinking, but they are certainly interesting. He believes there will be more, and more religious violence in the future. Religious groups have more babies than atheists (True I believe!). Western Liberal Democracy’s have abdicated the morals they used to espouse which leads people to search out for their own ‘tribe’, whether this be religion, or ISIS, or an Alt-Right groups.

I also found it galling that a book about religious violence, written by a Jewish rabbi, made absolutely no mention of the religious violence that has been occurring in Palestine/Jerusalem/the West Bank for the last 70+ years. The fighting over the temple in Jerusalem between the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faith. He didn’t mention how Israel is dispossessing Palestinians of their land and rights inch by inch and committing slow genocide with their settle colonialism. He did mention that most anti-semite’s use anti-Zionism as cover for their anti-semitism. Ha! That’s the same line Israel uses to cover up their crimes. The Holocaust is still in recent memory and Israel is doing this to another people? Shame on them.

It was a bit hard to take Sacks seriously at times with this major omission. He talked a lot about antisemitism, which he argued was the easiest example to draw an example of religious violence, and a lot about Islamic fundamentalists though.

Rabbi Sacks should re-read this verse from the bible and contemplate on the religious violence the Israeli/Jewish state is commiting:

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye. *Luke 6:42, New King James Version

The real title of this book should be Not in God’s Name: Confronting (non Jewish) Religious Violence.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #93 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #BookReview #Books #JonathanSacks #NonFiction #Religion”,

Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:52:32 +0000

“Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin

An odd collection of stories, where some of the endings were macabre, or uncomfortable, whereas others were puzzling. Nevertheless, even with the ‘bad’ stories, I still got the sense of what she was aiming for. The first few stories seem a bit boring, but stick with it because some of the later stories are very interesting. It’s a shame the earlier stories feel so unpolished, or lost something in their translation.

I previously enjoyed Schweblin’s book ““Fever Dream”” which was nominated for The International Man Booker Prize. If you like unsettling, strange stories sort of like Han Kang, you may enjoy this one.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #92 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #SamantaSchweblin #ShortStory #TranslatedFiction”,

An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk by Allison Schrager

Mon, 24 Aug 2020 10:42:27 +0000

Very quick, but light read about financial risk. She illustrates economic concepts like stock options, using examples of people and situations from the real world.

I always find these kinds of books interesting, but for me they always seem a bit of a tease. I was interested in all the topics she covered: brothel management, horse breeding, and professional poker players, but I wish she dived deeper into each topic. I understand this is not the point of these sort of mass-market books but still it was a bit disappointing for me.

For the layman wanting to learn more about risk in a funny, non-threatening way, starting with this book would be OK.

Rating: ★★★

Book #91 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

3 Novellas for the Summer

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 21:22:55 +0000

3 Novellas for the Summer

Need a few short books give yourself a boost your GoodReads Challenge? These books are three very different novellas, but very good novellas. I’m glad I stumbled upon, and read these on my Kobo.

Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather

Many would just describe this as ““nuns in space”” but that would do a huge disservice to this novella which is actually quite a good political space thriller. It takes place in deep space, system 2 or 3 I believe, far away from ECG (Earth Central Governance) which used to be powerful, but has lost its grip lately. It is about a convent living on a living ship who travel through space, proseletize, and render medical aid where they can.

The novella deals with a tricky situation the convent finds themselves in which they have to decide to hold back and ‘follow orders’, or do what they think is right. Some of these nuns have some skeletons in their closets that affect their decision in the tricky situation.

This isn’t a hard sci-fi book, but if you can look past that this is a good look at how religion might look like in the space, and how ‘religion’ will still be entangled with Earth politics.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #88 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo

The format of this novella was not quite what I expected. This is about Kim Jiyoung and her life from elementary school until she is an adult. This reads like a journal, documenting her feelings as she is constantly mistreated as a woman in South Korea, but she also mixes in true facts and statistics about being a woman in Korea.

I lived in South Korea for about 2 years so I saw how mistreated, and hard a woman’s life is there, this book puts it down in an easy to read way and really makes you empathize with Jiyoung and how she feels. If you’ve never visited Asia, the things she points out might seem incredibly discriminatory, but woman everywhere will be able to relate to her situations.

I hope men will read this book though and see the world through Jiyoung’s eyes for a bit. I know this book hit me hard when it got to the point where Jiyoung was married with a child. I certainly felt guilty reading some of the things the husband said to Jiyoung, because I know I’m guilty of saying some of those things to my wife.

Reading this book made me want to go hug my wife and tell her how much I appreciate her. I’m glad Taiwan isn’t as patriarchal as South Korea, but it still has a long way to go until men and women are ‘equal’. I hope as my daughter grows up, things will keep changing for the better.

I enjoyed this book, and it made me reflect on how I treat my wife, but the format is a bit too clunky; I think this book lost something in translation.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #89 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Four Soldiers by Hubert Mingarelli

This is a simple novella: four soldiers meet as they are marching from place to place in a war, and become friends. It is written simply, but this is about a very strong bond that develops between soldiers who fight alongside each other. I have experienced this bond in my time in the military. I can still remember the people I did basic training with, and went on war games with even though I haven’t seen some of them in more than 15 years.

This may make this sound like a ‘war’ book, but it’s actually a book about relationships. The only fighting that happens in this book is at the very, very end, and it is brief and devastating. Throughout the book, the men are mostly killing time, talking, and trying to make it from one day to the next.

Some have compared this book to a Hemmingway book, and I think they are right in some ways. I don’t think this book has the depth of say, Hemmingway’s ““The Old Man and the Sea””, but it certainly has the same tone, and explores some of the same themes. I guess if you read between the lines, you can think of it as like Hemmingway, but this story is far too simple to stand up to that sort of comparison.

I liked this book, but it won’t stay with me like other classic ‘simple’ books like Of Mice and Men, or The Old Man and the Sea. It’s a nice read for the summer and I enjoyed following the soldier’s relationships.

Rating: ★★★ Book #90 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

MONTHLY UPDATE - July 2020

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 10:12:02 +0000

“It’s been a busy month. I’ve been so busy I forgot to check in on Mastodon on August 1st again! DOH! I did lots of tech stuff, especially with OpenWRT and Armbian.

Summer School

I did 3 weeks of summer school this year. I hadn’t taught summer school in a few years but I like the new style. I only had to teach from 8-12:30 and then had the rest of my day free. It would’ve been better without this COVID-19 crap because that shortened my summer by 2 weeks though. I will try to avoid doing summer school next year though; the extra money is great but total freedom is even better!

Upgraded Old Tablets from Android 4.2 to 4.4

I have these very old (2015) Acer Iconia A1-811 tablets I inherited from my wife’s work. I was going to try to put some custom ROM on them, but that seemed like a lot of effort for very little payout, so I settled on just upgrading the firmware. I used the first part of this guide.

[GUIDE] Firmwares, ROMs, CWM, Root - Acer Iconia (MTK) Tablets

Is there much difference between Android 4.2 and 4.4? Nope. It’s sad how fast things go out of date. I only use these on long bus and train rides for the kids. If these stop being able to use NETFLIX, I’m not sure what the heck I’ll use them for.

Bought Another SBC

I bought another single board computer from FriendlyARM.com, NanoPi R2S. I want to use this as a personal router for me at school. Sadly, this model, R2S, doesn’t come with WiFi, whereas the NanoPi R1S does. I guess in all my flipping back and forth on the website I sorta overlooked that point.

This started out as a frustration but I learned a lot of stuff about OpenWRT, USB Wifi Adapters, and even Armbian while troubleshooting' this.

I bought a D-link Nano DWA-131 Wifi dongle, but it doesn’t work. I troubleshooted it and it doesn’t work. I spent lots of time messing around with that. I finally gave up and emailed tech support. The suggested 2 USB Wifi dongles that will work from Taobao. I then found Aliexpress.com and ordered them. Still waiting for them.

In all the troubleshooting I did, I also found that this stupid yellow case runs very, very hot. Today, I drilled some holes in the top of the case to give it more ventilation. It seems to be better for now.

LineageOS

All good! I found Titanium backup and made a backup of my stuff. I even made an automatic job to do it for me every week.

I was researching how to encrypt my phone but it seems like a big risk and not worth the trouble. This is the only thing I don’t like about LineageOS. I want to have FDE in case I lose my phone. I don’t care about the phone, but I care about my data. This will be a major benefit of moving to Pinephone.

Pinephone

It’s getting so close to being able to use a Linux phone as a daily driver. Lots of good things are happening with ubports, mobian, and postmarketOS. I hope in about a year or 2, I can buy a Pinephone. https://www.pine64.org/2020/07/15/july-updatepmos-ce-pre-orders-and-new-pinephone-version/

I’m deternmined to switch to a linux phone once core functionality is reached: phone calls, texts, mobile data, front and rear cameras, and GPS.

OpenWRT on Xiaomi

I started using my NanoPi R1 as my main router now. That means I could tinker with my old Xiaoi Mi Wifi R3 router. I got X-WRT installed on it (a fork of OpenWRT). Now I have more options of where to use it. I may use it again on my home network because its wifi speed using iperf3 is 28 MB/s whereas my NanoPi R1 is only 5 MB/s.

Of course, this may all change once I get those USB Wifi dongles. It’s still a work in progress.

Yunohost 4.0 Buster

Finally out of alpha! Now I need to try installing this tonight. Let you know how it goes next month.

Summer vacation!

I’m looking forward to summer vacation. It just started, and we’re taking a trip to Tainan soon! I will be kicking back trying to watch more movies, and read more books.

#MonthlyUpdate”,

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:26:43 +0000

“The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

A YA fantasy novel that has a lot of heart. There were lots of elements going on in this story: a bad witch, girl discovering magic, man trying to defend his family, and an old witch trying to do some good in the world.

I only heard about this because somebody in our reading group was excited about the release of the Chinese translation of the book. I’m glad I stumbled onto this book. My friends say Barnhill’s first book was even better than this, so I may have to read that too.

Some might be turned off by a book classified as YA, but don’t be. YA fiction to me is just simple stories, without all the fluff. They are stories that can be equally enjoyable to young and old.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #87 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #YA #Fantasy #witches #KellyBarnhill #magic”,

Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 06:55:55 +0000

“Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

I didn’t enjoy this book, but I still finished it. It was interesting, though made me cringe at times. This book has not stood up well to the passage of time. It’s very sexist. I suppose the author being born in 1907 would have a lot to do with that.

The basic plot of the book is there is a genetic super-man called Lazarus Long (the Senior). He tries to kill himself, but the long-life organization he is part of, the Howards, stop him. They want him to write his memoirs of what he did for the past 500? 1000 years? The book is about him dictating stories to a computer and his friends about all the different lives he’s lived.

In most of these lives Lazarus is the man who saves the pretty girl, or impregnates her with his superior seed. In the last part of the book he actually breaks away from telling his stories to having a new adventure. The new adventure is going back in time to see his own family. It was interesting, until it got weird and he had sex with his great-great-grandma.

Heinlein is very detailed in writing about the pretty women in his book; their beautiful breasts, smiles, and legs. The whole book seems to be about how our society’s notions of sexuality regarding incest, and the bonds of marriage are silly (he calls marriages ‘contracts’ in the book).

As I said in the beginning, I didn’t really like this book, but it was interesting enough to complete it. It is a very long book though, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. That being said, I rather enjoyed Heinlein’s ““The Moon is a Harsh Mistress””. So don’t take my distaste for this book to mean I don’t like this author, I just don’t like this particular book and the themes he attacks.

Rating: ★★ Book #86 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #RobertAHeinlein #sexist #TimeTravel”,

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 14:06:24 +0000

“The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas

This was just what I needed this summer; A light, fun, and engaging read with a murder myster….and time travel! I’m sold!

The book jumps forward and backwards through time but this is well laid out with how the plot develops and the titles of the chapters. I was never lost when reading this book. Did the plot tie up everything perfectly at the end? Yes, but that’s what we expect at the end of a book like this.

This is a feel-good book that would be a great companion for when you are sitting on the beach. My friend lent this to me, and I’m very grateful for that because I’m not sure I would’ve picked this book up off the shelf on my own.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #85 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #KateMascarenhas #TimeTravel #BeachRead”,

Adulthood Rites & Imago by Octavia E. Butler

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 15:39:56 +0000

(Xenogenesis #2 & 3)

(These 3 books are so short, they really should be read as one book. I finished #2 in the series but then finished #3 as well before having a chance to write the review for #2)

Adulthood Rites

This book is about Lilith’s first child, a human-Oankali construct child. Akin looks quite human-like. This book is about its upbringing, and eventual kidnapping by a ‘resister’ community. Some humans have rejected the Oankali aliens, and don’t want to live with them; they are called Resisters. They are determined to find a way to have pure human children. This has led them to kidnap Oankali children who look quite child-like before their metamorphosis into adulthood. Obviously living with the Resisters, Akin learns more about the human way of life than any Oankali before him. He empathizes with the humans, and wants do help them.

Imago

The focus of this book shifts to Jodahs, the first Oankail ooloi-human construct. It follows him as he tries to implement the plan to ‘save’ the human race, and give them an alternative option than living with the Oankali. It also is about the ooloi growing up and its search for mates.

Series Overview

The whole series of Xenogenesis is more about race, freedom, colonizers, and what defines ‘humanity’ than spaceships and explosions. It’s a slow burn, but detailed look at how things would look if humans were the colonized, rather than colonial masters. It also deals a lot with gender roles in families, and the society of Oankali aliens, and humans. This may not be the ‘sci-fi’ book for everyone, but it is certainly quite different to what I was expecting and to most of the other sci-fi I have ever read.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #83 & 84 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Fish Have No Feet by Jón Kalman Stefánsson

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:49:57 +0000

Fish Have No Feet by Jón Kalman Stefánsson

What is there to say?…life is incomprehensible, it’s unfair, but we live it anyway, can’t avoid it, know no other way, life is the only certainty, that treasure, that worthless junk. After life there may be nothing. Yet it all began with death.

Shifting from past to present, the focus of the book is Keflavik, Iceland and how a place morphs you into the person you grow up to be. The main character has a major life event push him back to the place where he grew up. This brings up memories of family, and the history of his grandparents, parents, and the tough life in Keflavik. The ending is a bitter regret that comes to light and is a gut punch to me reading it.

Memories are heavy stones that I drag behind me. Is it heavy to remember? asked Ari. No, only what you regret or long to forget - regret is the heaviest stone.

Stefánsson has a lyrical, and poetic style of writing. It’s also bleak in a way. I grew up in a nothing town like Keflavik, so many of the feelings the characters had growing up were feelings I had. I was at least lucky to live near a bigger town, Vancouver. He speaks about regret a lot, and I would venture to say that it is a main theme. Regrets are bad, but the character in the book has the worst sort of regret, the regret for not doing something. It is far, far better to have regret for trying out something, and have it blow up in your face instead of wondering, what if?

After reading this book, I feel like I have spent a few years living in Keflavik, working in the fish processing plant.

You have a child and your life is divided, it just happens, into before and after, you’re forced to bid farewell to your former life, and your love is distributed, it’s no longer focused exclusively, with it’s unfathomable power, on one person.

That certainly encapsulates how I feel about having my children. My wife says I don’t love her anymore, but I tell her, I do but now my love is split between you and our 2 children as well.

I’m not so sure we seriously try to understand other people - do we really give it our full attention? Don’t we actually do the opposite, and constantly try, all our lives, to make others see the world as we see it? Isn’t that our great misfortune?

This book is a treatise on life. Other reviewers will quip that it is repetitive, but isn’t life very repetitive? Sometimes to learn, humans needs to fail, fail, and fail again. Humans are stubborn. We know something shouldn’t be done, yet we do it anyways. Why is that?

Who’s entitled to judge what is normal, isn’t there aggression in the word normal? Is ““normal”” a sturdy cage surrounding all of us, perhaps? Surrounding our lives? A cage from which we can never escape? Except perhaps when we drink.

I always like finding the part of the book that leads you to the title of the book. There must be a special term for this? Anyways, here it is!

No-one, you see, can walk on water, and that’s why fish have no feet.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #82 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 13:33:23 +0000

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler (Xenogenesis, #1)

What if humanity almost destroyed itself and was saved by an alien race? How would we deal with that loss of pride, honour, and freedom? How far would we be willing to go to survive? What defines us as ‘human’? These are the types of questions explored in this series by Ms. Butler.

Butler’s style of sci-fi is not hard sci-fi. She is more focused on the relationships of the characters. She focuses on one woman and what she will do to survive in this ‘new world’. The aliens in this book are very alien. They are bipedal but that is the only part of them that is human-like. Their sensory organs, and family units are completely different. This is a major point of conflict with the humans that the aliens are trying to save.

The ending of this book is not a cliffhanger, but leads directly into the sequel. I thought this book was very enjoyable, and have already started to #2 in the series. On the surface, this sounds annoying, but the books are so short the could’ve actually been released as one novel. I’m not sure why they weren’t released as one book.

It’s interesting to think of humans as sort of an endangered animal that needs saving. In novels and popular movies, humans are often portrayed as the technologically advanced colonizers of the galaxy, but that could turn out to be very wrong.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #81 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

MONTHLY UPDATE - June 2020

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 12:20:01 +0000

“Bought Liberate Hong Kong book My favorite Hong Konger author, Kong Tsung-gan, (also a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press) has released his 3rd book on the protest movement there. I already have his first book ““Umbrella: A Political Tale from Hong Kong”", and his 2nd book ““As long as there is resistance, there is hope: Essays on the Hong Kong freedom struggle in the post-Umbrella Movement era, 2014-2018"".

I just bought his third book, ““Liberate Hong Kong: Stories from the Freedom Struggle”". Sadly, I missed out on buying it from Hong Kong Free Press and getting a paper copy. The publisher isn’t selling paper copies, and is only selling PDF copies. I asked them if I could buy an ePub. They referred me to Amazon. Ugh. I let it be known to them that, ““I’d rather not support an ethical monster such as Amazon””. They agreed with me. So, I’m now confused why Mekong Review still lists their book there? while also giving them a 30% cut of every book sold too. I understand listing on Amazon and then still selling ePubs yourself, but they don’t even do that. It’s getting harder and harder to avoid these GAFAM monsters, but this just seems lazy.

Anyways, all this led me to downloading the program, Sigil Ebook editor. It’s interesting to learn how to make your own epub. Of course, I already know how to click ‘convert to epub’ in Calibre, but Sigil is a more advanced program that let’s you easily edit all parts of the ebook.

Now I have to get around reading the ePub I made, and correcting the little mistakes that are probably in there from the conversion process.

Black Lives Matter Rally

Another needless murder of a black person by a white police officer. I fear I am getting numb to this. This murder has ignited more protests, and subsequently more deaths at the hands of the police. We are not that far removed from this situation. I work with some really awesome black people. They organized a fundraiser and a rally. It was a pleasure to attend and support them.

Let’s hope there is some more justice for all people after this virus thing blows over. https://www.facebook.com/events/2452488661520186

Yunohost Security

I finally got around to making my Yunohost server more secure. I made SSH login without password. Details for you to do on your own server: https://yunohost.org/#/security

Kids Took TOEFL at School

I’m so proud of my little students. They were brave and got through the test. I haven’t seen the results yet, but I hope they did well.

Son going to public kindergarten

There are not enough public kindergarten spots for all children in Taiwan. (Why? I’m not sure but it must be rooted in the culture of grandparents living with families and functioning as ‘free’ childcare.) To get one of these spots, you have to enter a lottery. I entered the lottery last year, but didn’t get it. This year, we tried again and got it!

Why is this so important? Because of $$$. A private kindergarten costs about $12,000-16,000 NTD a month. Now with the minimum wage only $23,000 NTD a month, that seems a little insane, oui ou non? The public kindergarten costs $150 NT a month. This means my family will be saving an extra $100,000 a year due to the ‘lucky draw’.

This seems like a terrible system for those that didn’t get it. The government keeps complaining people aren’t having babies, but can you blame them? You need some serious money to raise kids for the first 7 years of their life or quit your job to be a stay at home parent. Luckily, public school from Grade 1 does have enough spots for all children. It’s those first 7 years though that are the hardest to get through.

Migration from Google Photos > Photoprism

I am always on the lookout for a Google Photos replacement. This month, I found Photoprism. It seemed to tick all the boxes I need to use as a Google Photos replacement. More information: https://github.com/photoprism/photoprism

I tested it on 06/07. My initial impressions are that it is very slick, and well developed so far.

Here are some features that impressed me:

auto organizes pictures by date
runs on docker image with a web interface - (there’s a demo to see what it’s like)

So I decided to give it a shot. I moved 171 GB of photos to my server for it to index on 06/08. It finished 49 hours later.

Now that all my photos are in there, I see that is very cool, but still not perfect for me yet:

No way to delete photos in the web interface
Doesn’t handle AVI and MOV files well at all. All my AVI files were messed up. Only MP4 movies from newer phones were OK.
No way to rotate photos/movies in the web interface
No way to tag or edit metadata for more than one file at a time

For now, I will have to stick with Google Photos and keep an eye on Photoprism’s development. I hope it becomes a little more user friendly, and better at editing (deleting/rotating)

Student stabbed at my school

06/12 Today, I feel sad, angry, and tired. It was a long day. In the morning, I came to school to find a high school student standing outside our school with two teachers. I then went to the office to punch in and found the floor covered in blood. At first, I thought it was a student’s nose bleed, but then saw the student on the couch with the nurse and could tell that something bad happened. Later I would find out that the high school student outside stabbed one of our elementary students in the back multiple times. It’s scary because that could’ve been any kid at our school. My daughter will come to this school next year. It could’ve been her. I’m angry because that high school student is such a coward. Why couldn’t he just stab himself? or a classmate? He had to feel like a ‘big man’ and stab a student way younger than him? Just pitiful. I feel tired because there isn’t much we can do. No matter what precautions the school takes, there will always be a way someone can hurt our kids. 5-6 years ago, an adult jumped a fence at a public school and sliced the throat of an elementary school child and they died. What is wrong with people? How can people still believe there is a God when he lets things like this happen? I am sad that I didn’t come to school earlier today so I could have the opportunity to hurt that student who stabbed our child. There isn’t any justice in this world.

A few weeks later, I’m more OK but still sad about the whole incident. I hope that student gets to come back to school soon so we can see them again. I’m still processing this.

LineageOS on my phone

My cracked phone was just too far gone to wait for PinePhone to become ready for me to use. I see that the camera still isn’t working on UBPorts yet. So, in the interim, I scoured the LineageOS pages of phones that they support. I wanted a phone that was cheap, and not a Chinese company.

I settled on an Asus Zenphone Max Pro M2 ZB631KL. It has 6 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage. It was only about ~$7000 NTD. This is more than enough for my modest needs.

I then tried to flash it with LineageOS but I hadn’t updated the firmware after buying it (noob move!). This led to some sleepless nights, but eventually got new updated firmware flashed to the phone, then went back and flashed LineageOS without Gapps on it.

The GPS wasn’t working, so I reflashed it with LineageOS with MicroG but the GPS still isn’t working. This isn’t a deal breaker for me because everything else works, but would be nice to have GPS working. I posted on XDA Developer forums and am seeing if anybody else has this problem.

This whole LineageOS experiment is hopefully just temporary for me anyways, as I track the development of PinePhone and wait for that project to mature.

LineageOS is pretty cool so far though. If the GPS worked for me, it’d be damn near excellent. I still have some Google App store stuff installed but I feel better knowing that Google is stripped out of the main operating system of my phone, and I can pick and choose what I put on it. I feel like I’m back in control of things.

Custom ROM Development

To me, it seems very wasteful for custom ROM people to keep trying to adapt this terrible Google Android thing, to make it work for so many different types of phones. I think it’s smarter in the long run if they band together, and make something from the ground up on PinePhone or another type of Linux based phone.

Then, if they make progress, it can be reused and built upon. It seems like a wasted amount of effort to make all these custom ROMs work on all these totally different phones, with totally different bootloaders, and completely different hardware.

Also, I didn’t want to support Asus (or any phone company) by buying a phone from them, but PinePhone is still in the very early days of development. I’m sure they will catch up very fast to these other custom Android ROMs because their work is adaptable though. They can use/re purpose all the good Linux opensource apps already made, and adapt them to work on the phones.

Is it summer yet?

Just two more weeks of this semester for me. This COVID-19 semester has been hell. I really need a break. June has been a crazy month too. Is the darkness darker right before dawn? Let’s see. Hope you had a good month!

#MonthlyUpdate “,

Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild

Sat, 27 Jun 2020 12:33:47 +0000

Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild

A book about the UK campaign to stop the slave trade in the West Indies. It was a highly enjoyable read that illuminated this part of history to me. I was very ignorant about the slave trade in the Caribbean, and how involved the British Empire was at the time. In the current times of Black Lives Matter, I think it is important to know the history of the slavery. I happened to stumble upon this book in the used book store last week, and was grateful that I did.

It is an incredible accomplishment that 12 men could start a social movement to stop the slave trade. It did take almost 50 years, but sometimes it takes a while to change people’s minds.

May revolution never cease until despotism is extinct.

This book gives me hope for our world. In the 1700s, when some people started to campaign against the slave trade, it was so much a part of the economy, that it seemed foolhardy to think they would ever succeed. Just as in the times of Kings, who could’ve imagined states without monarchs? I hope our world has reached a tipping point for universal income/climate change. Before COVID-19, it seemed inconceivable that the world could change quickly, but we saw how quickly this thing brought countries and the traditional capitalist system to its knees; there is hope for us yet.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #80 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

White Fox by Chen Jiatong

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 13:35:39 +0000

“White Fox by Chen Jiatong (The White Fox #1)

A charming story about a fox growing up to be an adult, and trying to fulfill their destiny. This book is translated from Chinese. Sadly, this is only part one of the series. The ending of the story is sort of a cliffhanger and I don’t really like it when authors do that.

There are cute illustrations in the novel, but not enough in my opinion. I think illustrations in these sort of young adult chapter books are part of the magic of reading paper books. Illustrations, photos, maps, and diagrams are certainly a way paper books still have an edge over eBooks.

Nevertheless, this is a good story for younger readers. It’s written as sort of a myth, with the main character encountering obstacles along the way and how he deals with them.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #79 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TranslatedFiction #YA”,

Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Lan Samantha Chang

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 10:39:12 +0000

“Hunger: A Novella and Stories by Lan Samantha Chang

These are some very emotional, and raw stories. She is either an excellent writer or she has had quite a tough life, if these stories are drawn from her own lives, or her family’s. These kind of immigrant stories are just what I needed to read. It’s good to step back from the craziness that is 2020 and think, ““things are tough, but it will pass””.

The novel is taken from the novella in this book, titled ““Hunger””. It is ‘only’ a novella, but builds up a painful story about a family under the abusive violinist father. The character is very good at building up the characters in a very short amount of time.

I am rating this 5 stars because this was an unexpected treasure I discovered. I want to celebrate this discovery and hopefully encourage others to pick up this book. There were a few ‘ok’ stories, but seriously, this book is worth picking up just for the long novella ““Hunger””.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #77 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #ShortStory #LanSamanthaChang #immigrant”,

The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 18:56:13 +0000

“The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

Another selection from the Man Booker International 2020 shortlist, but this one was far more interesting than Hurricane Season. This story is a ’re-imagining' of the famous Argentinian poem, Martin Fierro. The main character of this book is the wife of Fierro, that is mentioned very briefly in the original poem. I knew none of this before I started reading this book, but still enjoyed this book about gaucho’s and the love between China [pronounced CHEE-na] Iron and her traveling companion. The first half of the book is about the journey, the second turns into a love story, and the last part of the book is about the destination and where they all end up.

P.S. The book cover is absolutely beautiful. I really love the colors, and simplicity of it.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #76 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TranslatedFiction #ManBookerIntl2020 #GabrielaCabezónCámara”,

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 12:12:43 +0000

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor

This was not at all what I was expecting. There were overlapping stories of the people involved with the Witch’s death. The Witch turns out to be a transexual/homeosexual(?). There is a lot of sex in this book and even pedophilia. It was not a good read for me. I’m glad it was over.

I was expecting this book to be about a hurricane happening in the Florida/South East America area. I’m not sure why I thought that though.

This turned out to be the first book nominated for the Man Booker International prize that I actually disliked.

Rating: ★ Book #75 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TranslatedFiction #ManBookerIntl2020 #FernandaMelchor

Something Will Happen

Sun, 07 Jun 2020 14:52:12 +0000

You’ll See by Christos Ikonomou",“Something Will Happen, You’ll See by Christos Ikonomou

Another book from Ikonomou of stories, more like vignettes, of the daily struggle to put together a scrap of dignity when you have no money, and the economy is so broken in Greece during ‘austerity’.

In a thousand years if the world still exists maybe the things that are happening now will have become fairytales. And parents will tell their children stories about strange people who once lived and died for a handful of cash and the children will listen with their mouths hanging open and all these things will seem magical and unreal.

We are born, go to school, work, amass a bit of money, then die. Is that all humans are good for? These stories pick apart the thoughts, dreams, and hopes of the suffering people.

That’s what real democracy is. When poor people don’t wait for the rich to come and save them but take the situation into their own hands. That’s how the trouble starts: with us thinking that the rich will ever help the poor. It just doesn’t happen. We live in two separate worlds. They’re over there and we’re over here. We have to take the situation into our own hands.

As I read this book, there are protests all over the world for Black Lives Matter. People are protesting about the virus too. People are protesting because they don’t have jobs. The disparity between the rich and poor is just far, far too big. Let’s hope a new world order comes out of the chaos of 2020 and COVID-19.

Give us the mountains, he said, even if we have to eat stones. Like what Kolokotronis said during the revolution. Give us Greece even if we have to eat stones.

The governments have put the common people between a rock and a hard place. I can feel the intense pain, and injustice of their situation in these stories.

If only they had money and she didn’t have to work. If only she could read more and travel and go to the theater and concerts. If only she could sleep until eleven and not have to wait before dawn at the bus stop and be ashamed of her job. More than anything she would like not to feel a shock of fear every time the phone rings or she sees a plain white envelope in the mailbox.

I wonder where the author got these stories. I imagine they are amalgamations of stories he heard about his neighbors, family members, or people he saw on the news. I bet many of these situations the stories are based on are very, very true.

Losing your job is like breaking a limb. At first you don’t feel anything, Aris said, the break is still fresh and it doesn’t hurt. The pain and the fear come later, when the wound cools. When you remember the rent and the bills and the help wanted ads in the paper. The phone calls each morning, the harsh voices on the other end. Sorry, someone else beat you to it. Call again tomorrow. Send us a resume and we’ll see - these days they want a resume for a job moving furniture. The pain and the fear come later, Aris said. Aris, who got tossed out into the street with me like cigarette butts without an explanation, just a phone call. Aris, who said he didn’t know what he might do tonight - I might hang myself with my belt, he said, or go down to Faliro and drown myself in the see. We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet.

I’ve never read such beautiful, angry, and true prose written about losing your job. The people are suffering but life goes on - politicians talk about GDP, ‘getting the economy moving’, and managing interest payments - while their citizens are trying to just survive.

I really want to find this book in Greek and read the salty language in Greek. I’m still looking for an eBook.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #74 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #ΧρήστοςΟικονόμου #GreekLit #austerity #ShortStory #Fiction #TranslatedFiction”,

Primary Sources: History of Taiwan

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 14:46:00 +0000

“Primary Sources: History of Taiwan

Great collection of Taiwanese history links. Enjoy!

This page is part of a collection assembling links to historical primary sources that are open on the web. It should be seen as a work in progress, and corrections or suggestions for additions are most welcome. These resources may be especially useful to students studying Taiwanese history who are looking for inspiration and primary sources for use in their essays who a) are limited to the English language (though some Chinese language sources will also be listed below too) b) lack access to subscription databases that universities with strong East Asia collections may offer, and c) are in lockdown due to a global pandemic.

https://www.froginawell.net/frog/sources/primary-sources-history-of-taiwan/

#History #Taiwan #links”,

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:14:26 +0000

“Network Effect by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #5)

I’ve read all the books in the series so far. I usually don’t read books from a series, especially not more than one*, but Murderbot is like an old friend. He’s sassy. He’s violent, and he doesn’t really like human emotions. All-in-all, he’s my kinda guy! In this story, we find him re-united him with another character I like from the series, ART. This is the first book where Murderbot is fully ‘free’. The ending seems to set it up for Murderbot to go on another adventure. There are also a few loose ends that could conceivably make it into book 6, or into some short stories.

The book was a fun ride, but will I keep reading if there is a book 6? I’m not too sure. It isn’t bringing that much new stuff to the table. The best part of the series were the first few books where Murderbot was figuring out how to be free, and not just follow orders from his Clients.

Read this if you want some more fun action like the previous 4 books, but don’t expect Wells to have any new tricks up her sleeve, other than bringing back our old friend ART.

*Exception: The Culture Series, The Foundation, Earthsea, and Lord of the Rings. (There may be others that I’m forgetting.)

Rating: ★★★★ Book #74 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MarthaWells #Murderbot #robots #SciFi #MurderbotDiaries”,

MONTHLY UPDATE - May 2020

Sun, 31 May 2020 08:28:51 +0000

“BACKSTORY: I used to use Facebook and Twitter a lot. Then I encountered a crazy, stalker troll and stopped using social media. I then found Mastodon and that was cool, but I realized I don’t need social media in my daily life. I pop onto Mastodon once a month to browse a bit. This monthly update is sort of a journal entry for me, and a way to remember the good and bad of every month.

GoodReads Reading Challenge 2020

I’m up to 73 books read so far this year. It feels like I’m going to smash my 100 book goal this year.

Supporting Good Causes

The only power we each seem to wield is where our money goes, so I’ve tried to funnel some money to some projects I really care about.

Causeway Books 銅鑼灣書店 Remember the HK book sellers that China was kidnapping because they were publishing books that were critical of the CCP? Well one of them, Lam Wing-Kee has moved to Taiwan and opened up his bookstore again. I went there and bought a book to support him. 銅鑼灣書店－台灣重啟 -台北市南京西路5-1號10樓、捷運中山站3號出口附近
Yunohost I’ve been using Yunohost to self-host Nextcloud, Pihole, and even this blog for the past year now. They recently released an awesome update (more information below) and I thought it was about time I supported them financially.
#自由之籽 TOTE BAG by Project R Support HK protesters AND get a badass tote bag? I’m in. Those protesters are courageous, the least I can do is send them a few bucks.
Hong Kong Free Press A non-profit English language newspaper in HK. This is my primary source to keep up with what’s really happening in HK. I also get a really cool tote bag designed by Badiucao. HK is going to need a non-CCP news source in these dark days ahead. It seems China is trying to squeeze the last bit of freedom out of HK.

Yunohost update

Yunohost recently released version 3.8 and it is awesome.

If you don’t know what Yunohost is, check their website or read my review.

Diagnosis

New diagnosis system : The configuration of a server is complex and prone to a lot of small errors, that’s why we have set up a brand new diagnostic system 23 that analyzes different parameters such as: the possibility to access the server from outside, the DNS records, port forwarding, system resources… (Disclaimer: this feature is still experimental and being polished)

Xmpp upload - now I use XMPP with my wife instead of Signal!

Support for XMPP file uploads : You can now send files through XMPP using you YunoHost server! Metronome also gets upgraded to version 3.14. (N.B. : for the XMPP upload to work, make sure to add the corresponding DNS record and to force-renew your certificate)

New School Laptop

It’s amazing how a computer from 2020 could be so much faster than my Macbook Pro from 2010. It’s so damn zippy. This is now the first time I’ve used Linux on a new laptop. I usually only get to install it on older, hand-me-down computers.

Epic! Books for Kids

While searching for reading material for my students, I stumbled upon this app. It is free until the end of June! I quickly got my students setup on it, and they have collectively read 1100 books in one month already! I did say I would give them a pizza party if they hit that level, so that might be part of the enthusiasm.

Anyways, it’s always free for teachers so now my kids will have access to 40,000 books and comics! So rad.

There are even books for ‘adults’ in there. I read some of the adventure time comics hehe.

Wireguard

I’ve been wrestling with it for a week. It seems so easy to setup, but deceptively so. I did make some progress: at one point I saw a handshake on one side of the connection, but I can’t ping the Wireguard IPs from both directions and traffic doesn’t seem to be routed through it.

I’ve followed multiple tutorials but nothing as worked as of yet. For now, to let my Nextcloud connect from school network to my Yunohost at home, I’ve been using Tor Socks5 proxy. It works quite well.

Blockada - Android App

Shout out to the awesome app Blockada on F-Droid. It creates a local VPN that blocks ads and spyware. It’s like a mobile version of Pi-hole. Check it out!

Pinephone

Ahhhhhhh is it pretty good yet? I’m waiting as long as I can. My phone is still cracked, and front camera doesn’t work but I want to hold out as long as possible to get a more stable version of Pinephone.

#Wireguard #Yunohost #Books #MonthlyUpdate #Tech #HK”,

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

Sat, 30 May 2020 20:47:51 +0000

“The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

A deep look at chaos a vengeful, deceitful, ‘special’ person can wreak upon your life. This book is about one such woman, Zenia, that brings down destruction into three women’s lives who sorta knew each other from their university days.

Tony has thought a lot about Zenia and has decided that Zenia likes challenges. She likes breaking and entering, she likes taking things that aren’t hers. Billy, like West, was just target practice. She probably has a row of men’s dicks nailed to her wall.

This novel is a slow burn, with long chapters (20-30 minutes long!) that jump from the present, to the characters reminiscing to their recent past and their encounters with Zenia. The novel ends beautifully when all three ladies confront Zenia in their own way.

…so she gets up and goes upstairs in her stocking feed and puts on her bathrobe and her trodden-down landlady slippers, then ambles down to the kitchen, where she finds a half-eaten Nanaimo bar in the refrigerator.

Atwood also drops in the ‘Canadian-isms’ when she can. She even threw a ‘chesterfield’ in there! Back to Nanaimo bars, I really, really miss those. They are truly one of the few things I can’t find in Taiwan. What you say…what’s a Nanaimo bar? Shame.

…nobody seems to know any more what a ““good man”” is. Not even men. Or maybe it’s because so many of the good men have been eaten, by man-eaters like Zenia.

This is classic Atwood. She is great at building up characters, layer-by-layer, and building up the tension slowly. She always has great women characters. If you only know Atwood from The Handmaid’s Tale, make sure you read some of her earlier work. I need to take my own advice and read Alias Grace sometime soon, even though I’ve already watched the excellent CBC miniseries adaptation which is now available on NETFLIX.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #73 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MargaretAtwood #Fiction #Canadian”,

March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake

Thu, 28 May 2020 13:30:33 +0000

Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown by Elmer Luke (editor), David Karashima (editor)",“March Was Made of Yarn: Reflections on the Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown by Elmer Luke (editor), David Karashima (editor)

A painful exploration of how an earthquake, a tsunami, and then a nuclear power meltdown changed people’s lives. This is a collection of short stories translated from Japanese.

Why am I drawn to these stories of pain? I guess where there is pain and suffering, there is injustice. Was it fair that a gigantic earthquake hit Japan? No. Life isn’t fair, and mostly us poor humans are just muddling about trying to get through it all. How does this massive loss of life fit in with God’s plan?

It always makes me sad and angry that I can’t help out in these situations. I can at least help carry the burden of remembering their suffering, and hearing their stories.

Some of the stories were duds, but many were very good. The stories were mostly about the aftermath of the event. How did people cope? The feelings of guilt for surviving? Others were surreal stories. There was even a short manga in there.

A fitting book to remember a terrible event.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #72 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Japan #fukushima #earthquake #OralHistory #ShortStory”,

Home: Habitat

Thu, 28 May 2020 12:16:03 +0000

Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells",“Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4.5)

A very, very short story (17 pages) used a bridge between The Murderbot Diaries 4: Exit Strategy and her new book that just came out The Murderbot Diaries 5: Network Effect.

I’m not sure why I keep coming back to this series. Well, I guess I do know. I like the smart-ass robot who has to keep saving those pitiful humans who are living in their fragile meat sacs. They are short, and action packed too. I like to read Murderbot in between other hard, and difficult books. The series is familiar, and easy to read.

Now that this is finished, I can move onto the new full-length novel, Network Effect! I hope it is still as good as the other 4.5 books in the series. Onward!

Rating: ★★★ Book #71 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MurderbotDiaries #MarthaWells #SciFi #robots #Murderbot”,

Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique by Chiang Yee

Tue, 26 May 2020 15:59:28 +0000

Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique by Chiang Yee

I’ve always found calligraphy fascinating. I love studying the ancient scrolls in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan all the while wishing I understood more Chinese to appreciate them more. This book lays out different aspects of calligraphy in 11 chapters from the origins of calligraphy, techniques, and the cultural significance of calligraphy in Chinese culture.

After reading this book, I certainly have a better appreciation of the different styles of calligraphy, and deeper knowledge of the techniques used. Now, all I really lack is practical knowledge. I really feel the urge to enroll in a calligraphy class to try it myself. Reading books is great to learn, but at a certain point you just have to ‘do it’.

For now, this book will proudly sit on my bookshelf as a reference tome to the mysterious art of Chinese calligraphy. I am very proud to have dug this up at a used bookstore for only $3 USD. This is a worthy addition to any bookshelf for those interested in Chinese culture.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #68 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Diana: Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale

Tue, 26 May 2020 15:49:21 +0000

(DC Zoom series)

Fun graphic novel about a girl finding her identity, and learning what it means to be an Amazon. She makes a ‘bad’ friend along the way, makes some bad decisions, but it works out in the end. My daughter enjoyed it, as did I.

This DC Zoom series seems to be ‘superhero’ books targeted to teens and pre-teens.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #67 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Good Will Come From the Sea by Christos Ikonomou

Tue, 19 May 2020 22:11:08 +0000

“,“Good Will Come From the Sea by Christos Ikonomou,

Want to know what ‘austerity’ feels like? This book tells the tales of city folk forced back to the ‘home’ islands to scrape by.

Solidarity and justice, that’s what finally took Tasos. Solidarity and justice - empty words that poor people say, not because they believe in them, but because they’re poor.

The ordinary Greeks have been bashed about and their lives have been boiled down to $$$.

All those motherfucking politicians, Greeks and foreigners both, are going to send us back to caveman days. We’ll all be living in caves, with clubs and animal skins. We’ll be lucky if we still have fire.

These stories show you how austerity hurts, kills, and emotionally scars people. This whole generation of young Greeks is fucked.

…then we said how scary it all was, how scary to struggle to build a life for yourself all over again from the beginning, trying to banish the greatest of all fears, which isn’t the fear of death but the fear of life, the fear of living, the fear of living a life in fear, the fear of life that makes us die a bit every day.

I wish I could find a copy of this book in Greek. I want to feel the rage, and frustration of these Athenians. Sold out by the politicians, their futures sacrificed to balance the budget.

Sometimes I think, we lost our jobs, our homes, our lives - why can’t we lose our memory, too? Why? Why did they take everything else but leave us our memory? Why couldn’t they take that, too, while they were at it?

Becoming poor isn’t what breaks you. What breaks you is remembering that you didn’t used to be poor. That’s what breaks you.

The author has a powerful writing style.

This place is to blame. No doubt. The island is to blame for sure. On an island there’s nowhere to hide. In a city you’re a stranger among strangers but don’t feel like one because everyone is. Here, on the island, everyone knows you, you know everyone, and yet you feel like a stranger because that’s what you’ll always be.

Though the quotes may make it sound like a dark, and depressing book, there are moments of humour in there too. The author wrote another book about the stories of other humans stuck in the meat grinder of history, ““Something Will Happen, You’ll See””.

Money. The alpha and the omega. Where everything begins and where everything ends. All the rest is small print. And whoever won’t admit it is a fool or a liar. That’s why poor people are eternally cursed. Because they don’t hate money, only those who have it. They hate money not because it exists, but because it isn’t theirs. That’s why they’re cursed forever, that’s why they’ll never gain any power. Because what they want isn’t to stop being poor, but to be rich.

This book will stand as a testament to the pain inflicted on the people. Some books are tough to read, but we need to read about the plights of our fellow man to empathize with them, and (hopefully) learn from our mistakes.

…how did we end up like this, how did we sour on one another so much, how can it be that on a tiny island like this we can’t live together, just a drop of a place and we’re at one another’s throats, you call us rats and we call you foreigners, and then I wonder if we were always like this, if the fact that we could cheat one another, steal from one another is what kept us together all these years, if it was the lying the cheating and fake money, if that’s the only reason we put up with one another, that’s the sort of stuff I think about when I sit here late into the night and my soul hurts, because I don’t know what’s worse, to love your country because you’re ripping it off or to hate it because you can’t do that anymore, and I think how now that the money is gone we have to find something else to keep us together, but I can’t think of what, I can’t see that there’s anything left, there’s just nothing, nothing, nothing…

(I had to write comments between each quote to break up the quote formatting)

Rating: ★★★★ Book #66 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Greece #Austerity #ShortStory #TranslatedFiction”,

Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act

Tue, 19 May 2020 13:07:30 +0000

Now by Joshua Wong",“Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now by Joshua Wong

Books like this are difficult to review: do I review the book? or review of the topic presented? How about I do both?

The Book

The book was short and easy to get through. It is roughly divided into three parts: introduction of Wong’s life and some of his accomplishments, (2) His journal of his time in jail, and (3) a description of how & why HK is under attack from China and how others can help.

I am very familiar with Joshua Wong and closely follow HK politics. I live in Taiwan so I am under a similar threat from China. The journal of his time in jail was interesting. It talked about his discussions with people who visited him, and other inmates. He also had journal entries that responded to current events that happened while he was in jail - these were the most interesting letters, obviously.

The strongest part of the book, the description of HK under attack, was the best part of the book too. Sadly, it was also the shortest part of the book. I’m not really sure who the audience for this book is supposed to be: it’s too light on details for hard core Sinophiles like myself, but also jumps right into a very complicated situation with minimal preamble. On the strength of the book alone, this is only a 3 star book.

The Topic

Is this book particularly good? No, but the topic is very timely and very important to Asia, and the whole world. China is on a mission to make the world less free. Two businessmen are already being illegally detained in China. The COVID-19 pandemic shows that authoritarian governments like China are not good for the world.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #65 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #China #HK #Asia #Politics #JoshuaWong”,

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

Mon, 18 May 2020 10:53:41 +0000

“The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley

What a thrilling book! It had a diabolical premise of corporations being the rulers of the world, who have their own armies. They have a technology that can turn soldiers into a light beam and send them anywhere they desire to fight their wars for them. I really liked to political backdrop of the story with: ghouls (those without residency or citizenship rights), residents, and citizens. The scary part of this story is how some parts of it are quite plausible, and not that far fetched.

They don’t pretend military service is some glorious or noble sacrifice. It’s simply about serving the whims of the corporation. It’s always been the rich pushing us around, making up stories how we’re fighting for a noble cause when it’s just about, what, some old guy insulting some other guy’s dick, measuring their relative genius based on how many people live stream their breakdown. You know the ratings for the war broke records? The corps made a killing on that. I heard Tene-Silvia even ran ads for NorRus and Evecom during that broadcast, it was so profitable.

Some soldiers sign up to be a soldier for the corporations to acquire citizenship for their families. Some to be a hero and avenge the attack by Mars. Of course sending soldiers across the galaxy as light isn’t without its problems. Some soldiers seem to be jumping forwards or backwards in time. They call these soldiers the ““Light Brigade””.

And I’ll stop right there. I’m being intentionally vague in this review because I don’t want to spoil any twists and turns in the book. It’s such a fun ride and would feel terrible if I took that away from you.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #64 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #Thriller #TimeTravel”,

The Soccer War by Ryszard Kapuściński

Mon, 11 May 2020 09:11:12 +0000

Before reading this review, you have to read this excerpt from this book to get a feel for Kapuściński.

SILENCE. People who write history devote too much attention to so-called events heard around the world, while neglecting the periods of silence. This neglect reveals the absence of that infallible intuition that every mother has when her child falls suddenly silent in its room. A mother knows that this silence signifies something bad. That the silence is hiding something. She runs to intervene because she can feel evil hanging in the air. Silence fulfills the same role in history and in politics. Silence is a signal of unhappiness and, often, of crime. It is the same sort of political instrument as the clatter of weapons or a speech at a rally. Silence is necessary to tyrants and occupiers, who take pains to have their actions accompanied by quiet. Look at how colonialism has always fostered silence; at how discreetly the Holy Inquisition functioned; at the way Leonidas Trujillo avoided publicity.

What silence emanates from countries with overflowing prisons! In Somoza’s Nicaragua - silence; in Duvalier’s Haiti - silence. Each dictator makes a calculated effort to maintain the ideal state of silence, even though somebody is continually trying to violate it! How many victims of silence there are, and at what cost! Silence has its laws and its demands. Silence demands that concentrations camps be built in uninhabited areas. Silence demands an enormous police apparatus with an army of informers. Silence demands that its enemies disappear suddenly and without a trace. Silence prefers that no voice - of complaint or protest or indignation - disturb its calm. And where such a voice is heard; silence strikes with all its might to restore the status quo ante - the state of silence.

Silence has the capacity of spreading, which is why we use expressions like ‘silence reigned everywhere,’ or ‘a universal silence fell.’ Silence has the capacity to take on weight, so that we can speak of ‘an oppressive silence’ in the same way we would speak of a heavy solid or liquid.

The word ‘silence’ most often joins words like ‘funeral’ (‘funereal silence’), ‘battle’ (‘the silence after battle’) and ‘dungeon’ (‘as silent as a dungeon’). These are not accidental associations.

Today one hears about noise pollution, but silence pollution is worse. Noise pollution affects the nerves; silence pollution is a matter of human lives. No one defends the maker of a loud noise, whereas those who establish silence in their own states are protected by an apparatus of repression. That is why the battle against silence is so difficult.

It would be interesting to research the media systems of the world to see how many service information and how many service silence and quiet. Is there more of what is said or of what is not said? One could calculate the number of people working in the publicity industry. What if you could calculate the number of people working in the silence industry? Which number would be greater?

I really love this excerpt. Kapuściński has a way of writing about news events that goes beyond, who did what, and who killed who. He is great at contextualizing why things are happening, and adding much needed colour to these events. He doesn’t shy from inserting himself into the narrative, but that makes for all the better story.

This book seems to be collections of stories he couldn’t really fit into a book of its own. The first half of the book is confusing for me because I know nothing of ‘African’ history from the 1960s and 70s. The narrative becomes stronger, and more straightforward when it gets to the second half of the novel which deals with incidents in Latin America. The book finishes off with an interview with Kapuściński too.

I wouldn’t recommend starting with this book, but for me it was the perfect end of my own ““Kapuściński trilogy””. I read, The Emperor, then The Shah, and finally The Soccer Wars.

It’s a wonderful book, whose only flaw is the silly title.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #63 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Mon, 11 May 2020 09:03:36 +0000

“The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu

This turned out to be a huge disappointment. It wasn’t a total loss because the last two stories were Liu in his true form, but the other 8 or 10 stories felt like filler. Was Liu short on money? Was publisher forcing him to publish something? Was he digging out old stories he had never gotten published before?

Many stories were linked by the story of a girl who’s dad ‘died’ and became an AI human on the internet. One story about it would’ve been ok, but he tried to thread that narrative over multiple stories and they weren’t great.

He also put in two excerpts from his fantasy series The Grace of Kings, which I heard is not too popular. They were OK, but Liu is sci-fi for me, not fantasy. Also it just felt like he was plugging his books other books by putting them in there.

Should you read it? Nah. If you want to read quality stories by Liu, read his other collection of short stories, The Paper Menagerie.

Rating: ★ Book #62 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #KenLiu #HiddenGirl #ShortStory #SciFi #Fantasy #AI”,

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Tue, 05 May 2020 12:29:16 +0000

“Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation #3)

A continuation of the Foundation series, this one wholly centered on finding the Second Foundation. This iteration of the series felt more philosophical and less political than previous books in The Foundation series. I didn’t care for this one all that much.

Rating: ★★ Book #61 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Foundation #IsaacAsimov #SpaceOpera”,

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Tue, 05 May 2020 12:17:41 +0000

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

A very important book, about an important topic: food! The first two thirds of the book focus on factory farming of the corn food chain, and the grass food chain. Along the way it talks about many interesting topics, the climate implications of CAFO’s (concentrated animal feeding operations), and organic ‘farming’. In the last third of the book, he talks about his own experience hunting, gathering, and growing food to create his ‘perfect’ meal.

Food is such an important topic because we vote on the type of food we want 3 times a day. It is also the thing that affects every single person on this planet when we are talking about: food security, climate change, and health. We need to eat smarter, and make our food chain more sustainable. Personally this book is the last push I need to eat less meat. Let’s hope humans become smarter before we make ourselves become extinct.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #60 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Food #MichaelPollan #Farming #Organic”,

Adventure Time by Ryan North

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 13:04:06 +0000

Adventure Time by Ryan North

(Volume 1 & 2)

The perfect antidote to the dreary, anxiety ridden COVID-19 times we live in. These guys Finn and Jake are always up for wacky, zany adventures on the planet Ooo. Their dialogue is funny, cheesy, and pun-y. It’s ridiculous, and I love it.

I just discovered this awesome book site (that is free for teachers - woo hoo!), Epic! books for kids, and have been devouring these since I found them. Graphic novels are no good on e-readers, so these are the perfect comics to read at work on those lazy days I occasionally have. I read the Hilda comics on Epic! too.

NOTE: I won’t review all the other future Adventure Time comics I read, because I’m sure they will be totes awesome like these two first collections I just read…so on that note, IT’S ADVENTURE TIME!

…I’m off to find more adventures.

P.S. it seems the author is Canadian. That’s totally rad. That’s why I must dig his re-donkulous humour.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #58-59 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 12:47:46 +0000

Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (Foundation #2)

Another solid entry in the Foundation series. This one is about the expansion of the Foundation and it meeting its greatest nemesis yet, a military commander that wasn’t forseen by Hari Seldon. It’s more of the same with Foundation, and that is perfectly fine because the formula is great, and the plot moves into new territory that is very cool.

PS This book feels like a more substantial version of what John Scalzi seems to be trying to do with his Collapsing Empire series, but his series can’t touch this masterpiece from the 50s. Scalzi focuses too much on lightweight banter that doesn’t move the world forward. It feels like he’s stretching out his story to sell more books. It’s fine, but it shouldn’t feel like that when reading it.

I’m already reading Foundation #3 now. It still sizzles!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #57 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Wed, 29 Apr 2020 12:40:58 +0000

“One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Sometimes you hear about a book, over and over again, and finally decide, OK I’ll finally read it. This is one of those books that is often put on a pedestal as a an incredible book. It’s also often used to describe other books - as this book seems to have ‘invented’ the term or be a stand out example of ‘magical realism’.

As you can probably guess by the way I start this review, I didn’t fall in love with this book. It started interestingly enough, had some good bits in the middle, and had an interesting ending, but it was long and boring for me. I thought I would like this book more because I have read other books that use ‘magical realism’ and those books were even compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s style, but that didn’t turn out to be the case.

I also didn’t enjoy the super convoluted naming scheme of every man being called Aureliano, Arcadio or Jose. I also sort of abhor ‘famous’ books that have a rabid fan following like Harry Potter. I enjoy obscure translated books that haven’t yet been given their due. I suppose that sounds a bit elitist, but I don’t think I needed to really read this book to figure out why it was an important piece of literature. Nevertheless, I didn’t give up because who likes discarding novels once half-way finished. Not I!

Also, this book needs intense concentration to follow what’s going on due to the fantastical things that happen and the very, similiar names that the family has. I was reading this at naptime in my classroom, and would constantly get interrupted by students, so this probably coloured my expeirence of reading hte novel. I know people love this novel, and I can see why, but I didn’t love this novel…and that’s ok. It was good to read it, and experience it because it is considered a ‘famous’ and ‘modern day’ classic.

Rating: ★ Book #56 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MagicalRealism #TranslatedFiction #GabrielGarciaMarquez”,

Hilda graphic novel series by Luke Pearson

Sun, 26 Apr 2020 21:55:47 +0000

“Hilda graphic novel series by Luke Pearson

(Hilda #1-5)

Hilda and the Troll
Hilda and the Midnight Giant
Hilda and the Bird Parade
Hilda and the Black Hound
Hilda and the Stone Forest

This review is for the first 5 books in the Hilda series. The Hilda series is a great series about a kind, and courageous blue-haired girl who has many adventures with monsters, spirits, and other creatures around Trollberg. The illustrations are great. The stories are funny. I love these sort of graphic novels about strong female characters. I can’t wait until my daughter can grow up to enjoy these books.

Hilda has been made into a NETFLIX animated series, and I can attest to it being as wonderful as the graphic novels.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #51-55 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #LukePearson #GraphicNovel #Adventure “,

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 11:26:06 +0000

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Foundation #1

This is a huge novel in scope. This is a sci-fi, political thriller that deals with civilization and the maneuvering that goes on at the highest levels. Are the characters 1 dimensional? Yes. Does it matter? No. It’s amazing the world he builds with only ideas. Every sentence is required, he is not one for superfluous plot points or description. This is the essentials stripped down, and it’s beautiful.

This is the most ‘refreshing’ sci-fi I’ve read this year, and this is from 1951. This is Space Opera done right, before people who thought of this genre were even born.

Sometimes I think Asimov is overrated, but then I stumble onto another incredible book by him. He was a visionary in science fiction and decades before his time. I wonder what it would’ve been like to read a book like this in the 1950s just after World War 2?

This novel is another reminder to me that great literature is timeless!

If you want another suggestion from Asimov to jump into, I would recommend: The Gods Themselves.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #49 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 10:39:13 +0000

“The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke

The dastardly history of the deeds behind the Chinese village of Explosion and its meteoric rise to become a city metropolis like Shanghai, Beijing, and Tokyo. It’s written in the form of a dynastic history that court scribes were usually ordered to write on behalf of a Chinese dynasty, though this one is not flattering to the leaders of Explosion.

This satire is so dark, it’s bleak, and overwhelming. It is awash in symbolism, sex, and violence. I enjoyed it, but didn’t fall in love with this book. I always like a book that the Chinese government would hate, but this didn’t have the wit and humour of others I’ve read. I can see why this book didn’t win the Man Booker International Prize in 2017, rather the darkly humorous book ““A Horse Walks into a Bar”” won instead.

A better book in the ‘criticism of party cadre’s in China’ is the lewd, but hilarious book ““Party Members”” by Arthur Meursault. Be warned, it’s really sexually graphic but oh so funny. The main character is the penis of a CCP Cadre who believes his owner can do far better in politics than he is doing but back to this book…

I do really like Yan Lianke, and would recommend you read ““Dream of Ding Village”", or ““The Four Books”" before this one. Those two books are a better showcase of his writing ability. This was certainly a forgettable read for me although I could see the concept he was trying to achieve.

Rating: ★★★ Book #48 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #ManBookerIntl #China #YanLianke #TranslatedFiction”,

Recipe: Greek Tzatziki

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 08:47:20 +0000

“Recipe: Greek Tzatziki

τζατζίκι a perfect spicy yogurt dip for deep fried chicken nuggets, a spread on bread, to add to your curry, or use as sauce on vegetables.

ingredients:

1 liter Greek yogurt (2 liters of strained plain yogurt with no sugar)
1 lemon
1-2 cucumbers
Greek olive oil, preferably from Crete with a PDO stamp.
8-12 cloves of garlic (half to 3/4 of a whole garlic)
oregano
pepper
salt

method:

Use garlic press, and crush garlic, put it in a big bowl.
Use food processor to pulverize the cucumbers. Don’t remove the skin, you want that for colour.
Squeeze out water from the cucumbers using cheesecloth, or those cloths used for steaming rice, then add to the bowl.
Add olive oil. I don’t measure, but I figure it must be about 100-200 ml of oil. I drizzle it for about 5-8 seconds.
Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Cut lemon in half, and squeeze out the juice. NOTE: You can balance the ‘spicyness’ of the garlic by using more lemon juice and olive oil if you think you made it too ‘garlicky’. Follow my recommendation for now but experiment with balance of cucumber/oil/lemon in the future.
Add the yogurt.
Mix well with a spatula.
Put it in airtight containers, preferably glass ones like Lock&Lock containers. If unopened, and you don’t contaminate the containers with saliva (scoop it into a bowl to enjoy!), it will last 2-4 weeks.

NOTES:

Greek yogurt: I make my own because it’s far cheaper than what Costco sells, and has a stronger kick but that’s for another post.
Greek olive oil: I recommend Cretan Mythos brand and Bonum Terrae. This oil can be found at City! Super, and Jason’s Marketplace in Taiwan.
Protected Designation of Origin: This ensures the oil you are getting is not mixed with oil from elsewhere.

#food #recipe #GreekFood”,

Lord of Formosa by Joyce Bergvelt

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 13:11:20 +0000

“Lord of Formosa by Joyce Bergvelt

A limp start, but pretty strong finish for this exiting book about the Ming loyalist, pirate, and military commander, who was responsible for pushing the Dutch out of Formosa.

The author was really good at illustrating the inner politics of the VOC, Dutch trading company, in Batvia and in Taiwan. She wasn’t as good about bringing the story in China to life. The story really sagged until Koxinga came into the scene. The childhood of Koxinga’s father, Zheng Zhilong was pretty boring.

There is precious little detail to build 17th century world for you. I have read many, many books about the history of Imperial China, and Taiwan, so I have the background knowledge to enjoy this book. I’m not sure how much somebody with sparse knowledge of China & Taiwan would enjoy this book.

I really, really wanted to love this book, but if you want to learn about how the Dutch were expelled from Taiwan, you should read the book, ““Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China’s First Great Victory Over the West”” by Tonio Andrade. That’s not to say this book isn’t well researched, but at times it just felt like a novelization of a history book.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #47 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Formosa #Dutch #VOC #HistoricalFiction #Koxinga #ZhengChengGong #JoyceBergvelt”,

Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen by Guy Standing

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 10:52:19 +0000

Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen by Guy Standing

This was an exciting book! I’ve always thought that a UBI (Universal Basic Income) was a good idea. The author lays out clear arguments for a UBI, explains common misconceptions and arguments made against UBI, and gives suggestions how it could be funded. I’m now even more in favour of a UBI than ever before.

A major question people have is, how can we fund an UBI? If we think of it as a Social Dividend, a share of the common resources every citizen has access to, then we can see that taxing these things that are being used makes sense. The air, water, land, and intellectual property should be taxed. If you are bottling water, and profiting from it, you should be taxed on using the water resource. If you are polluting the air with factories, you need to pay the air tax. If you are renting land to people, and profiting from it, you need to pay portion of this to the state.

Taxes on income producing assets - physical, financial, and intellectual - is taxed far too low in comparison to tax on labour. This is why we have a huge gap in wealth. The rich have lots of capital (land, stock, rental properties, patents), and the poor just have their labour to rely on.

An interesting part of the book is the philosophical arguments he lays in the beginning of the book, on why we need a UBI on the basis of personal freedom, and economic security.

There is no reason that all countries shouldn’t have a UBI. As this COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, we are living in precarious times that will only become more unstable as the climate is destroyed, and robots take our jobs. If we had a UBI maybe we could’ve shut down economies quicker to spread the contagion without people worrying about their jobs & salaries?

On the topic of ‘robots taking our jobs’. This is both true and false. True, robots will take those menial jobs that nobody really likes away from humans: driving a taxi, working in a factory, and industrial farming. That being said, there will never be an absence of ‘work’. Work is what we do outside of the formal labour market. This includes taking care of your sick grandma, volunteering at the community center, and raising your children. With the UBI, people could be more free to spend their times in ways that don’t contribute to the GDP but still make a valuable contribution to society, all by making people happier, healthier, and more friendly towards others (increased altruism).

This book is excellent and all should read it. We are at the limits of ‘pure’ capitalism. We need to make some adjustments to the future of workunless we want to live in one of those dystopian societies in the book we read.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #46 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 21:18:39 +0000

“Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann

This is the 3rd book I’ve read from the 2020 Man Booker International shortlist so far. I really enjoy reading books from this book prize, and this book is no exception.

Tyll is about a jester, comedian, rogue, that wanders around Europe during the 30 year war. His story is intertwined with many notable people of the era. Life is hard for him, and for all people during this long, drawn out war. Every chapter is a key moment in his life, or another person in this time. The first chapter is incredible in setting up the cruel, brutish time they are living in. Chapters are long, and take time to build up momentum. Sometimes you will be wondering what it is building up to, but then you get to that point and find it was all worth it.

If I don’t call His Majesty an idiot, who will? Somebody has to. And you’re not allowed.

The characters the author builds up are brilliant. I heard this book is now being turned into a NETFLIX show, and I am very excited to see how it turns out. If it is only half as good as the book, it’ll still be splendid!

It sounds like a rather bleak book, and it is, but there are incredible moments of character development of Ulenspiegel as we tag along on this wild ride through war-torn Europe. After reading this book, I realize I know precious little about the 30 Year War. Any good history book suggestions?

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #45 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #ThirtyYearWar #ManBookerIntl2020 #DanielKehlmann #jester”,

Rethymno: Soul Of Crete by Stella Kalogeraki

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 20:56:33 +0000

" Rethymno: Soul Of Crete by Stella Kalogeraki

A solid look at the city of Rethymnon on the island of Crete. It looks at their history, culture, and the natural beauty to be found there. It’s a tourist guidebook, but the author is an archaeologist so it’s sombre in tone. It doesn’t talk about the best night clubs, or restaurants rather it lists notable churches, has diagrams of historically significant doors, and other architecture in the city. That being said, there are some walking itineraries, and driving itineraries at the back of the book to guide tourists in the best way to explore the prefecture. The inside flap also has a city map of Rethymnon.

Crete is a special place for myself, as my father was born there. I even feel like it’s my second home. I bought this book on a trip there. I didn’t get a chance to read it when I was there, as I was too busy enjoying myself, but opening it now gives me good vibes and helps me remember my time in Crete. Crete has the best beaches I’ve ever been to in the world. Ah, I miss my family too! If only the world weren’t so large :D

Rating: ★★★★ Book #44 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TravelGuide #Greece #Crete #Rethymnon #StellaKalogeraki",

How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 14:30:47 +0000

“How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee

Another tale of sexual slavery, ‘comfort women’, in Singapore during World War 2. This story is told from the future, looking back in the past. The focus of this story is how the experience devastated the women for the rest of their lives. After their terrible ordeal, they had another one to enduring - being were shunned and ostracized, by family and friends.

The story follows one of these comfort women, Wang Di, as she is reaching the end of her life. She has never told anybody what happened to her during the war, not even her own husband. Now that her husband has passed away, she feels regret for not telling him. Another part of the story is picked up by a young boy, Kevin. His grandma had something that happened to her during the war too, but he doesn’t discover it until he discovers old letters. Between the present stories of Wang Di, and Kevin, we get flashbacks of what happened to Wang Di in the 1940s. The stories all converge at the end due to a discovery, and subsequent investigation, by Kevin after his own grandma dies.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked how the stories were woven together, and there was a glimmer of happiness at the end of the story. These women have had such a tough life: first being abused by the Japanese soldiers, then by their families, and even governments didn’t want to know anything about it. I like how Wang Di takes control of her story by telling it. By telling her story, she unburdens herself a little bit, and hopefully teaches those who are listening about this terrible time, so that it may never be repeated.

I always get angry when reading books about ‘comfort women’. Everyone knows about the Holocaust and what Germany did during the war, but it seems that Japan made it through the war with minimal damage to its reputation. I guess America felt pity for them after dropping two nuclear bombs on them? Many people who don’t live in Asia know precious little about the horrors the Japanese Imperial army inflicted on people in Taiwan, China, Korea, Manchuguo, Malaya, and Singapore. To remember these stories, is to honor their memories.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #43 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #ComfortWomen #JingJingLee #HistoricalFiction #WomensPrize2020 #Fiction”,

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 08:06:39 +0000

“Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

A story about two drifters who go from job to job. These two are good friends, and try to look after each other but it’s a hard world out there. They have a dream to save up to buy their own land, and stop working on these ranches, but it’s always just out of reach. They have to changes jobs frequently because one of the men always finds a way to get into trouble

I love the colloquial language used by Steinbeck. He published this book in 1937 so the language is really of the time. His liberal use of cursing, such as son-of-a-bitch, Jesus Christ, as well as incorrect grammatical structures spoken by some ( “We could live offa the fatta the lan'.” ) add a ‘real’ factor to the dialogue. This is high literature because of the plot, and themes developed but it uses authentic language, no high minded literary bullshit. The dialogue really flows.

“A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.”

I really appreciate short classic novels. Another one you could sink your teeth into is ““The Old Man and the Sea”” by Ernest Hemingway.

“Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head.”

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #42 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #JohnSteinbeck #Friends #Novella #USA #Classic”,

Taipei: City of Displacements by Joseph R. Allen

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 15:00:55 +0000

“Taipei: City of Displacements by Joseph R. Allen

An exploration of the city of Taipei and the transformation of it’s public art, maps, and parks as it has been colonized by the Qing, the Dutch, the Japanese, and the KMT. It was a good read, but this is a very specialized subject that will be inaccessible to most people unless they are familiar with the history of Taiwan and Taipei. This books gives you a glimpse of the amazing place that Taiwan due to (or in spite of) it’s tumultuous history.

I wish this book went deeper into the effects of colonialism on Taiwan but the scholarship into this topic seems to have just begun. The archives on Taiwanese history have been closed for many years during the martial law period and the people here are still coming to grips with their past.

I bought this book from SMC Publishing Inc 南天書局有限公司, a local publisher of academic books. They have many other great books on Taiwanese history, and even old maps.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #41 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #JosephRAllen #Taipei #Taiwan”,

The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan's Defense and American Strategy in Asia by Ian Easton

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 14:43:03 +0000

“The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia by Ian Easton

A well-researched, look at PLA strategies that may be used against Taiwan, and ways Taiwan has planned to repel the invaders. Of course, many of the exact plans are unknown, but by reading PLA strategy manuals, Easton gives us the popular thoughts and attitudes on a possible invasion against Taiwan. There is also a chapter on America’s strategy in Asia.

After reading this book, I am not worried at all that China will ‘invade’ Taiwan. It is very difficult to launch amphibious operations, and even harder to hide the type of build up of troops that China would need to overwhelm Taiwan. The prevailing attitude of PLA officers in planning an amphibious assault of Taiwan is ‘pessimism’. China would also be under a time crunch to secure Taiwan very quickly, lest America, Japan, or Australia come to Taiwan’s aid.

I am more worried about China gradually chipping away at Taiwan’s sovereignty, and encroaching on our ‘international space’. This is already happening in international organizations like the United Nations (UN), and the World Health Organization (WHO), where China blocks Taiwan from participating or even becoming an ‘observer’.

This book was a breath of fresh air in assessing China’s chances in taking Taiwan in a military engagement. There seems to an attitude of ‘fatalism’ to Taiwan’s chances against China. They seem to feel that it is inevitable that China will take over Taiwan. This is simply not true. This is one of China’s strategies to securing Taiwan, psychological warfare, against the people of Taiwan so that they think fighting China is useless. China would love to take Taiwan without firing a shot if possible.

I hope there is more scholarship on a Taiwan-China confrontation in the future. For now, this is a good start.

I bought this eBook from Camphor Press. They are a small publisher that focuses on publishing books about Asia and South East Asia. They currently have a ““LOCKDOWN SALE”" going on where any 4 eBooks are only $10 USD. It’s a bargain. Go check it out!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #40 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #IanEaston #Taiwan #China #War”,

Painfotainment by Dan Carlin

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 18:53:16 +0000

“Painfotainment by Dan Carlin (Hardcore History #61)

An exploration of one of mankind’s dark sides - pain used as spectacle, and pain as punishment. Executions. Gladiator battles. The guillotine. Carlin surveys the scene from the perspective of the executioner, the audience, and the person being executed. He uses lots of primary sources, and delivers it with his trademark dramatic style. I like his exploration of the decline of executions and the reasons behind it too.

Some of commented that he didn’t spend enough time on lynching, but I think that’s a whole other animal compared to state sanctioned execution by hanging, or gladiator battles for entertainment. I think it was a good thing he steered clear of lynching because that deserves its own episode to look at the racial motivations that are behind lynching.

Although I did like this episode, it is hampered by its far reaching topic and Roman/British-centric view. Most of the English sources are about these time periods. Also, it’s such a broad topic that this episode could’ve easily been double or triple the length it was and could still not feel like comprehensive look at executions. Carlin’s more focused episodes on specific battles or time periods don’t have these problems.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #39 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #DanCarlin #podcast #HardcoreHistory #Rome #gladiators #executions”,

Palestine +100: Stories from a century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini (Editor)

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 11:19:45 +0000

“Palestine +100: Stories from a century after the Nakba by Basma Ghalayini (Editor)

They asked 12 Palestinian writers to write a story about what living in Palestine would be like in 2048. Some of the stories are incredible. Some are sad. Some are strange. Overall though, the collection isn’t spectacular apart from a few stand-out stories but I’m still very interested in the Palestinian struggle so I enjoyed this book. I also support books like this as a way to give Palestinians a ‘voice’.

The first few stories are the strongest, and the last story was the strangest. I barely got through the last one. 3 stars for the stories and maybe half a star for the premise. I heard they even have an Iraqi version of this collection, though it has even lower reviews than this book.

Rating: ★★★ Book #38 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Palestine #MiddleEast #ShortStory #SpeculativeFiction #TranslatedFiction”,

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:57:58 +0000

“The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar

A magical journey of one family through the turbulent times in Iran right after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. I’ve read lots of history, and historical fiction from Iran, and they had such a rich culture of poetry, music, and writing. It has been through a lot with outside forces coming in and imposing their will on the people.

This book was incredible but you really have to let go and let it take you. There are mermaids, ghosts, and other magical occurrences that don’t ‘make sense’ but they actually do. This was a beautiful book about life, death, politics, and history if you have the patience for magical realism in your stories.

“There are a lot of good things about dying. You are suddenly light and free and no longer afraid of death, sickness, judgement or religion; you don’t have to grow up fated to replicate the lives of others.

But for the most important advantage of death is knowing something when I want to know it. Kon fayakon. Piece of cake. If I want to be somewhere, I am, just like that.”

P.S. A revolutionary artist banned during the Islamic Revolution, Mohsen Namjoo, was mentioned in the book. Check it out his music to get into the mood to read this book.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #37 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MagicalRealism #Iran #HistoricalFiction #ShokoofehAzar #TranslatedFiction #ManBookerIntl2020”,

The CCP Virus

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 15:09:16 +0000

“The CCP Virus

Right now, it’s all anybody in the world is talking about. For future me, I will lay down my thoughts on this Corona virus/COVID-19/Wuhan Flu/Chinese Virus.

My personal beliefs: (1) China shoulders a large portion of this pandemic going global as they were busier ‘protecting their image’ than saving lives and stopping the spread of the virus. (2) This virus will be a net positive for the future of our planet. (3) Capitalism is to blame for also hampering swift virus response.

(1) China is almost fully to blame for this virus getting out of control. Taiwan was doubting China had things under control right from the beginning. We were one of the first countries to stop flights coming in from China. It seems the rest of the world is just learning that China is evil??? Umm I guess they don’t know about Mao Zedong, the Great Leap, the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square, Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and now this Wuhan Flu.

(2) Virus is Net Positive for the Future of our Planet It’s incredible how fast pollution has gone down in the past month when countries scrambled to find ways to limit the virus' spread. Now imagine if everybody took climate change as seriously as this virus?

Coronavirus and climate change: A tale of two crises China’s air pollution in Wuhan has decreased by 25%. Wow.

Yes, this virus is bad for mostly old people but in my opinion, humans are living far too long anyways. This could be the Earth’s (or some might think God’s) way to give us a wake up call about climate change, and thin out our overpopulation. Also older people are the ones who are usually out of step with young people’s thinking: ambivalent about climate change, don’t believe in LGBT rights, etc.

I worry that once this virus is under control everybody will go back to their little lives and things will go back to ‘normal’. I hope people can continue to seek change after the virus is under control, and redirect their focus into climate change.

What would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus? What would a fast, coordinated, collective response to climate change look like?

People now can see how fast government’s can make changes when they really have to. This means all the foot dragging on climate change in the past 20 years has been utter bullshit. Governments could change if they really wanted to. People need to rise up and destroy governments who are not making changes.

(3) If we really wanted to stop this virus in its tracks, we would just halt all flights in the whole world for a month or two, save for delivering food and other essential supplies. If companies didn’t worry about losing money, we could shut things down. If we had universal income, we could protect workers from having lost wages in the shut downs. If government’s weren’t so controlled by billionaires and their money, they would act for the good of the people - not corporations. Case in point: Japan still hasn’t cancelled the Olympics happening in a few months - why? Money!

We should rethink the way we work. Does every office worker need to create tonnes of pollution commuting back and forth from the office to work on their computer? A lot of people can telecommute. Maybe bosses will realize this now.

Food security Now with airlines cutting flights, countries should start taking food security seriously. Too much food is imported across the world and creating huge amounts of pollution. Humans need to eat smarter. We need to eat local. We need to eat things in season.

Distance Learning @ School & Tech Schools haven’t been innovating and now this virus is catching them flat footed. They need to learn how to teach better, faster, and from home suddenly. It’s time to rethink education and the traditional teacher talks, students remember and regurgitate.

Basically, this virus is a time for everyone, every industry and every country to rethink what we want our lives to be like in the next 1000 years. How can we make working better? How can we keep people healthier? How can we protect our Earth better? How can we make better cities? How can we make human’s lives happier?

#COVID19 #Virus #China #WuhanFlu #Opinion #CoronaVirus”,

A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 23:26:25 +0000

A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler

A delightful mystery where a crime writer stumbles onto the life of a devious character, Dimitrios and can’t let it go. I don’t often read mystery novels, but this one held my attention to the end.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #36 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 13:03:14 +0000

“Venice: Pure City by Peter Ackroyd

An interesting, but uneven stroll through Venice’s past. Interesting, but at time the author sounds like a wind bag who doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.

My friend has written the most perfect review of this book, so I’ll quote them below:

Ah, Venice! The most serene city.

Readers looking for a detailed history of Venice won’t find it here. While it’s impossible not to glean an overall understanding of the city’s history, this book is mainly about the personality of the city and its inhabitants. It focuses more on the culture than on the events that make up its character. And character it is, for the book treats the city as if it were a person.

Another thing to be aware of is the writing is not the typical matter-of-fact style of non-fiction. There is a flair and abstractness that some may find irritating. And it is steeped in the author’s personal opinion. While he seems to appreciate Venice, he doesn’t hold back when he is describing something he doesn’t like.

And the quotations. Oh, the quotations. I’m sure the writer scoured absolutely every written work that mentioned Venice and pulled something out to insert.

It’s not a bad book, but I can see where some may find it off-putting. I wouldn’t recommend it as a first book, or even second book, to read about Venice. But, if you have already read one or two and are looking for something to augment your understanding of Venice, then this would be one to consider. original review by SlowRain on GoodReads

I still enjoyed this book, because I almost enjoy every history book. I also have traveled to Venice twice already so I have some firsthand experience with the city which helps to visualize what Ackroyd’s talking about. Every chapter is thematic, and not in chronological order which is jarring though. To me this book feels more like historical fiction at times with large amounts of theories and opinions that Ackroyd lays out there without any apparent sources. As a history book, it feels super light and not very detailed. I wish it was more detailed. The cover of the hardcover edition is pretty beautiful though. I also appreciate history books with many illustrations and pictures.

My friend whose review I quoted earlier recommended these other books to learn more about the history of Venice:

Venice: A New History by Thomas Madden
A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich
Venice: A Maritime Republic by Frederic Lane
City of Fortune by Roger Crowley [about Venice’s overseas territory]

Rating: ★★★ Book #28 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Venice #History #PeterAckroyd #EuropeanHistory”,

All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 12:59:39 +0000

All My Friends Are Dead by Avery Monsen

A short but humorous look at death. Is this a kids book? Not really, but it sort of looks like one. There aren’t any naughty words in it, so you could plausibly share it with your child. Would I buy this? Heck no, but I did borrow this from the library.

I especially needed this cathartic joy of laughter with the Wuhan pandemic stress I’m experiencing right now.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #27 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Hardcore History podcast by Dan Carlin

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 11:43:34 +0000

“Hardcore History podcast by Dan Carlin

This is my favourite military history podcast. Carlin has a great voice, easy conversational explanations of important battles and wars in the history of mankind. Some will say he’s not an academic, but that’s precisely why he’s interesting to listen too. He’s great at building up a narrative around these events and packaging it into an easy to listen to format.

I’m not a fan of audio books in general, but Hardcore History is the rare exception.

Now you should know, his podcasts are long, very long. They are usually about 2-4 hours an ‘episode’. As a teacher, they are perfect for me to listen to while I’m doing some mindless marking. I love how he weaves the primary sources into his narrative as much as he can.

Wraths of the Khans [The Mongol Empire]
Blueprint for Armageddon [World War 1]
King of Kings [Persian Empire]
The Celtic Holocaust [Caesar rampaging through Gaul]
Supernova in the East [Imperial Japan in WW2]

Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History series

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #29-35 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #podcast #MilitaryHistory #DanCarlin #War #Mongols #Caesar #Japan #Celtic #Persia #WW1 #WW2”,

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 14:46:23 +0000

“,“Mythology by Edith Hamilton,

This book is exactly what you expect, all the major, and minor stories from Greek mythology from the Troy, to Hercules written in an authoritative, well-researched text. Before every story she explains a bit from which author she sourced the myth. There are handy family trees of the Gods in the back. It was a bit unexpected, but a bit of the end of the book talks about Norse mythology. That was an interesting section and almost wish it was longer. I know precious little about Norse mythology. This means I might have to read Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology book to educate myself (I wonder if he has illustrations in that book?)

I’ve been meaning to read this for a long time, and glad I finally did. This is like the Bible of Greek Mythology, but unfortunately whenever I found a copy they were always the small mass media paperbacks with yellowed pages that were falling apart. Finally, on one of my ‘treasure’ hunts in a book store I found a copy worthy of reading. This printing I found, (ISBN: 9780316341516) had beautiful illustrations, on white pages in a bigger format.

If there is any quibble I have with this book is there aren’t enough illustrations. This is a book any person serious about reading about Greek myths should keep on their bookshelf as a reference book.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #26 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Mythology #GreekMythology #EdithHamilton #NorseMythology”,

Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuściński

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 12:51:08 +0000

This is the second Kapuściński book I’ve read so far this year. This author has a poetic way of describing current events, and turns them into a Homer-esque epic. This book is about the last Shah of Iran that was eventually kicked out of power in 1979. I don’t know much about this part of the world but Kapuściński puts things together in away that gives me the narrative of what happened.

This novel wasn’t as amazing as his book The Emperor. The Emperor is written in a more linear style, with more ‘quotes’ from people working closer to that dictator. This book didn’t have as clear of a timeline to follow which at times almost disorients you. I wasn’t even born when the events in this book are talked about so I have never even really heard of this Shah.

I wouldn’t call this book a ‘history’ book, but it’s a beautiful blend of wit, poetry, and history. I’ve been reading a lot about dictators lately it seems. In a lot of this book, there are quotes that I think could apply quite nicely to the CCP regime in China.

A despot believes that a man is an abject creature. Abject people fill his court and populate his environment. A terrorized society will behave like an unthinking, submissive mob for a long time. Feeding it is enough to make it obey. Provided with amusements, it’s happy. The rather small arsenal of political tricks has not changed in millennia. Thus, we have all the amateurs in politics, all the ones convinced they would know how to govern if only they had the authority. Yet surprising things can also happen. Here is a well-fed and well-entertained crowed that stops obeying. It begins to demand something more than entertainment. It wants freedom, it demands justice. The despot is stunned. He doesn’t now how to see a man in all his fullness and glory.

As the passage above shows, he brings an passionate narrative to the events, but it also feels at times that he’s writing a book about dictators in general and sometimes comes back to the Shah to use as an example. Does this detract from the book? Not really, it’s still a solid book that captures the spirit of the rise and fall of the Shah and the attitudes and feelings of the peopel at the time.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #25 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 12:37:39 +0000

China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh

Cool book. Strange title. It’s an alternative future where USA went through a ‘Communist revolution’. China is looked up to for their well run society. The main character is ‘bent’ (homosexual). Some of the stories take place on the communes on Earth, and others in New York and in China. There are a few characters that are sort of interlinked in these stories. They were very interesting vignettes of life in a world dominated by ‘Communism’ where USA is not the global hegemon.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #24 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 13:43:41 +0000

“,“Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim,

A real story of a South Korean ““comfort woman”” (sexual slave) forced to work for the Japanese military during World War 2. This story is told through flashbacks and snippets of interviews with Lee Ok-Sun. This book is in black and white. This graphic novel doesn’t dwell in the gore, and violence. The most brutal scenes in the book is the black page where Ok-sun explains how she was raped in speech bubbles. I really liked the authors use of brush strokes, and the metaphor of ‘grass’ too.

This graphic novel does a good job of taking a heartbreaking, terrible story and breaking it down to human scale. The broad strokes of WW2 are in there for those who don’t know their history so well, but this story squarely focuses on the terrible suffering imposed on these girls and young woman.

It’s amazing how fast Japan was ““rehabilitated”” after the war and these war crimes were quickly ‘forgotten’. Germany has made amends, and as a society ‘faced’ their wartime atrocities much more than Japan has. It doesn’t really feel like ‘comfort woman’ or the Rape of Nanjing has really been dealt with in Japan.

I must warn you though, this books is hard to read. The rape, poverty, humiliation, cruelty are truly awful, but incredible bravery and grit of these women shines through too. There aren’t many Korean ‘comfort women’ left but Japan keeps trying to minimize and ignore the pain of these women. It’s despicable. This is a very important book so we don’t forget.

As others have pointed out, the author inserts herself in the end of the book and it’s a shame she didn’t let her work stand on its own. That last chapter where she tries to visit the present day locations of ‘comfort stations’ doesn’t really add much to this great book.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #23 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #GraphicNovel #War #ComfortWomen #Japan #TranslatedFiction”,

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:57:12 +0000

“The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot Mysteries #4

Lately, I’ve had the itch to read more mystery novels. I recently read The Moonstone which was an amazing mystery novel. It was so well done I thought all great mystery novels would be the same, but I was wrong.

Agatha Christie is a famous author but I didn’t really like this novel. I read that this novel was one of her best but it didn’t do it for me. The characters kept running around in circles and the Belgian Inspector Hercule Poirot was downright annoying. The culprit of the murder they found at the end logically fit the clues, but it felt contrived. The whole book felt like a good imitation of a mystery novel with the soul missing.

I was disapointed with this one, but I’ll still try to find some more exciting mystery novels to read in the future.

Rating: ★ Book #22 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Mystery #AgathaChristie #HerculePoirot”,

Jokes for the Gunmen by Mazen Maarouf

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:51:42 +0000

“Jokes for the Gunmen by Mazen Maarouf

Some macabre, and strange stories from these short stories from a war zone. I’m not sure this book was great, but it certainly was interesting. There is lot of dark humour in the stories.

This book was on the Man Booker International 2019 long list. I make it a habit to read as many of the books on the international list as possible. I like to get different perspectives on the world through translated fiction.

Rating: ★★★ Book #21 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #MazenMaarouf #ManBookerIntl #TranslatedFiction”,

How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century by Frank Dikötter

Mon, 02 Mar 2020 10:55:58 +0000

“How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century by Frank Dikötter

A good overview of 8 dictators of the 20th century that heavily relied on their ‘cult of personality’ to hold onto power. I read a lot of history, so for me this book felt light to me. The chapters on Hitler and Mao Zedong weren’t all that revealing to me as I have read a lot about those dictators. The other chapters were more interesting to though.

I understand these sort of ‘lighter’ history novels sell better and it’s certainly a good introduction to the history of these terrible men. Why aren’t there any women dictators? Or if there are, why don’t we hear about them?

The stories sort of blended into one another. Dictators mostly follow the same general steps to seize power. 1. Gather supporters 2. Violently seize power. 3. Change the law/constitution to solidify their grip. 4. Kill those who speak out - intellectuals, journalists, other politicians. 5. Control what people say, do, and think about through surveillance, and violence. 6. Become more and more paranoid and kill more people around them until only surrounded by ‘yes’ men. 7. Eventually lose power once enough people speak out, and protest.

It’s annoying that dictators are so predictable but the World still lets them flourish. Many of these dictators were allowed to continue terrorizing their people because they were anti-communist; others because countries value money higher than freedom.

I did really like the author’s style. Dikötter has written a lot of books about China and now I’m more interested in reading his more scholarly works.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #20 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #NonFiction #FrankDikötter #Hitler #Dictators #MaoZedong”,

Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 08:27:55 +0000

Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks"

Excellent, heart-breaking examples how tech algorithms are used against the poor, coloured, and sick to deny them government benefits they are entitled to all under the guise of ‘stopping fraud’, or ‘helping those most deserving’. It’s ridiculous that people can think we can split homeless people into deserving and not deserving help. All human beings deserve a place to live, a decent job, and health care.

This book should wake up those in non-targeted groups because once governments finish beta testing these techs against the poor, they could, and probably will, turn them against the rest of the population too.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #19 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat by Ryszard Kapuściński

Sun, 23 Feb 2020 15:23:54 +0000

What a short and powerful book. It was incredible to hear the descriptions of the palace life of the Ethiopian Emperor. I had never heard this story before. Kapuściński turns these interviews into a very compelling narrative. His book is divided into three sections: The Throne, It’s Coming - It’s Coming, and Collapse. The Throne, details the intricate details of daily palace life. It’s Coming, It’s Coming is about the rebellion against the King. Finally, Collapse is about the end of the very long lasting Emperor Haile Selassie.

This is the kind of reportage though common right now, but must’ve been very novel at the time. After reading this book, it made me go straight to Wikipedia to read more about this absurd monarch. This book felt more Kafkaesque than the Kafka novel I just read. When reading this book I was reminded of another great oral history book - Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #18 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Trial by Franz Kafka

Sun, 23 Feb 2020 15:07:36 +0000

“The Trial by Franz Kafka

For me this novel was good, but I didn’t feel it was ground breaking. To be fair, I’m sure I’ve read a lot of modern novels by authors who were influenced by Kafka. This was still a funny read, and I loved the absurdity of it all. I’m sure if I read this when it came out, it would’ve seemed fresher to me.

Rating: ★★★ Book #17 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Fiction #FranzKafka”,

The Birthday Buyer by Adolfo García Ortega

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 13:28:24 +0000

“The Birthday Buyer by Adolfo García Ortega

How to even review a book like this? It was painful reading it but also cathartic. This is the fictional account of a 3-year old boy, Hurbinek, mentioned in the memoir of an Auschwitz survivor.

Killing a child is easy, killing thousands of children is even easier, but it isn’t all that easy to erase the memory of children after they are massacred. I’m not sure why, I sometimes think it is because the lives of dead children are lives that were not lived and that must exist as fables, in a kind of timeless limbo set in history, their unredeemed presence returning to wreak a just revenge. If I believed in ghosts, I would only believe in the ghosts of massacred children.

I’ve never read a book like this. The author imagines the pain of the boy. He invents stories of his life that might’ve been. He was actually traveling to Auschwitz but had a major car accident on the way. This left his leg(s) broken and his stuck in a hospital in Germany. He seems to have written this book while in the hospital. He being temporarily crippled, and relating the imagined story of Hurbinek who was actually crippled and unable to speak.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #16 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #WW2 #Auschwitz #Fiction #TranslatedFiction”,

Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 13:17:12 +0000

“Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski Witcher #0.75

“Doubts. Only evil, sir, never has any. But no one can escape his destiny.”

The second anthology of Witcher stories brings the Witcher character, Geralt, into better focus. The first anthology was light-hearted, even humorous at times, but this one felt a lot more serious. In this collection of stories we learn more about Geralt’s ‘destiny’ and two women who are tied to his life - Yennefer, and Ciri.

I briefly met these characters while watching the first two episodes of the NETFLIX adaptation of The Witcher, but only fleetingly. After finishing both Last Wish and Sword of Destiny I feel I have a better grasp on The Witcher world and am now prepared to tackle watching The Witcher Season 1.

In Sword of Destiny, Geralt kills monsters of course, but also shows us the other side of himself. He after all is still human at heart. He is dealing with his love of Yennefer, his destiny that keeps leading him to the girl Ciri.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #15 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Fantasy #Witcher #AndrzejSapkowski #ShortStory”,

Recursion by Blake Crouch

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 12:59:47 +0000

“Recursion by Blake Crouch

What if you could go back in ‘time’ and fix something in your life - would you do it? To save your child? To become wealthy?

This book is about a scientist who invents such a machine to go back in ‘time’ and how this utterly fucks up our world. Why do I keep typing ‘time’ in quotes? This machine actually transplants the consciousness of the person into an earlier memory. Of course this sort of ‘time’ travel is not without its side effects.

I like this author. His stories have a sci-fi dilemma at the center of it but the story mostly centers around people. I also appreciate that he doesn’t make book series. His previous book, Dark Matter, did deal with time travel in a way but it’s still a very different book than Recursion. It does seem the author has time travel on the brain lately though.

Time travel is one of those endlessly fascinating things human think about, such as immortality. What would happen? Could humanity cope with such power? Does anything matter anymore if it can always be redone?

“Time is an illusion, a construct made out of human memory. There’s no such thing as the past, the present, or the future. It’s all happening now.”

Crouch has managed to make another really solid sci-fi thriller. I hesitate to compare the author to Dan Brown but Crouch has done the same thing for sci-fi that Brown did for historical fiction. Is sci-fi thriller a genre? Well if it is, Crouch’s novels would firmly be placed in that category.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #14 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #BlakeCrouch #SciFi #TimeTravel #Thriller”,

Chinese Spies: From Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping by Roger Faligot

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:03:08 +0000

Chinese Spies: From Chairman Mao to Xi Jinping by Roger Faligot

Incredible book about the secret world of Chinese spies. The author has been researching the secret security service in China for decades and the depth of his knowledge is on display in this novel.

I am well versed in the history of China, but it’s really interesting to hear about the history behind the history. For example, there is a chapter on Tiananmen Square where he describes the discussions and role of the security service behind the scenes and everything that led to the decision to attack the students.

The author describes the the history of the spy service, how they operate, why different reorganizations happened, and also detailed key events (Tiananmen Square, the Olympics) where the spies were involved a lot behind the scenes.

An interesting thing about the Chinese intelligence service, which is different than Western countries, is how regular Chinese citizens are involved in the network of information passing.

Paul Moore, FBI ““the people who covertly gather intelligence for China normally don’t look like spies, act like spies or pilfer large amounts of secret information…For most areas of Chinese intelligence collection, the actual work of locating and obtaining desired sensitive information, even very sensitive data, is carried out by academics, students, businessmen or journalists.””

I loved the chapter where the author compares China to the sea lamprey - ““a legendary snake-like fish known in China as the ‘eel with eight eyes’ (ba mu man)"”.

Scientists can date its (the sea lamprey) evolution into its current form to around 530 million years ago. Like twenty-first-century China, it has time on its side. The notion of the ““sea lamprey strategy”” (ba ma man ji) comes from the fact that this slippery, greenish fish blends in with the seascape, clinging to the rocks, and then, having waited patiently to select its prey, closes in and latches on, siphoning off its blood through its multiple orifices. It is the perfect metaphor for Chinese espionage techniques.

The only annoyance I had with the book was the odd quirk where the author would introduce every Chinese spy with his Chinese zodiac sign. ““Born in 1919 in the Year of the Goat…””

Anybody who’s interested in China should read this book because…

(in China) the security and intelligence services are not simply an organ of information-gathering, or even of influence and limited action, as in democratic countries. They are an essential pillar of power, alongside the army and the single ruling party.

You can’t understand Chinese politics without understanding the Gonganbu and the Guoanbu.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #13 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 12:29:55 +0000

“The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski Witcher 0.5

I have heard a lot of good things about this series from my Polish friend. This book series has also been turned into a video game, and most recently a NETFLIX series.

This led me to start watching the TV series. It was interesting, but it felt hollow. It felt like it was only scratching the surface of the world Sapkowski has created. I only watched 2 episodes then stopped for fear I was missing out on a richer experience from reading the book.

So I picked up the ‘first’ book in the series, The Last Wish, [more on this below]. The book is far, far better than the series. You understand much more about the world, and the motivations behind the main character, Geralt, from the books. In the books he has far better, and wittier dialogue than the TV series where he mostly just grunts. Two of the episodes I watched are based on stories from this book; they were both better in the short stories. The TV series seems to skip important dialogue and interactions with other characters to focus more on Geralt and the fighting scenes.

So what is this book actually about?

This book is a collection of short stories about Geralt who is a Witcher. A Witcher is a modified human who has magical abilities, and his job is to roam the world killing evil monsters for gold. They are different than a knight because they work alone, and don’t take sides in politics. They don’t fight for ego, or honour, they kill monsters for money. Period. They are professional exterminators.

““People…like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.””

Witcher Series order in English from GoodReads

Witcher collections (anthologies) #1 - The Last Wish #2 - Sword of Destiny

Witcher novels 1 - Blood of Elves 2 - The Time of Contempt 3 - Baptism of Fire 4 - The Tower of the Swallow 5 - Lady of the Lake 6 - Season of Storms

I certainly have the Witcher bug now and will continue reading other stories in the series. My advice to you would be - read the book(s) first, before watching the TV series.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #12 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Fantasy #Witcher #AndrzejSapkowski #ShortStory”,

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:48:11 +0000

“Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

(Old Man’s War #1)

Whenever I read Scalzi’s books, I feel like I’m reading a movie script; the books are easy to read, the dialogue feels like movie lines, and the premise of the stories is interesting but never fleshed out all that much.

I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. I started reading this because I had a long, long night ahead of me sitting around with my family on Lunar New Year’s Eve while they speak Chinese. I needed an interesting book, easy to read, but not too deep so this Scalzi novel was perfect for me!

This book has an interesting premise, when you retire and get old, you can join a galactic space army and get ‘body upgrades’ to make you sort of young again. The book moves along at a quick pace but he never slows down too much to tell you a lot about the world, the politics, or even the science. Scalzi is not a hard sci-fi writer. He’s like a summer action flick. There is just enough romance, witty one liners, and violence to satisfy casual sci-fi fans. He gives you just enough to enjoy the story and to make his world seem plausible. I’ve never actually gone on to read sequels to his novels. I read The Collapsing Empire, but none of the sequels.

Now back to this novel, when reading this I could detect the influence of other novels and sci-fi tropes. This certainly had a Starship Troopers feel to it. It’s a good book, if you like light sci-fi. I recommend it for a flight, or a long road trip where you want something interesting to read, but not too difficult. The characters are wooden and not all that interesting, so it doesn’t matter too much if you forget their names or the archetype they are. I’m surprised this book has such a high rating, but I figure it’s because this book appeals to a large audience and they might not be as picky about their sci-fi as I am. I’m not sure why the Hollywood folks haven’t picked up any of his books to turn them into movies, the script is practically written for them already.

I love the drill sergeant character. He reminds me of some of the great characters I met in the army.

“Now, you may think that this is some sort of generalized hatred that I will carry for the lot of you. Let me assure you that this is not the case. Each of you will fail, but you will fail in your own unique way, and therefore I will dislike each of you on an individual basis.”

Rating: ★★★ Book #11 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #JohnScalzi”,

Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:33:26 +0000

“Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke

(Mighty Jack #1)

A playful re-telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk story. I enjoyed this new series that Hatke has started. It has a trio of different characters, fun vegetation/aliens. I had a good feeling reading this, just like when I read Zita the Spacegirl #1.

I am curious to see where he’ll take this story in the future. I noticed that Mighty Jack #2 and 3 team up with some characters he’s made in the past including the Goblin King and even my beloved Zita the Spacegirl.

PS if you look carefully you might spot some characters from Hatke’s other books!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #10 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #BenHatke #GraphicNovel #SciFi”,

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 11:24:27 +0000

“The Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

(Zita the Spacegirl #3)

The conclusion to the Zita series follows the conventions of most sequels, in that each subsequent sequel is a little bit worse than the one before it. It still has the fun graphics, playful aliens, and characters you love but the story in this one isn’t as strong as Zita the Spacegirl #1, or even #2.

I understand an artist needs to publish to make money, but I hope Hatke can come up with some new exciting characters and keep things fresh. As I’ve said before, I hope he tries doing some more children’s books because my daughter and I enjoyed Nobody Likes a Goblin and Julia’s House for Lost Creatures immensely.

Rating: ★★★ Book #9 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #BenHatke #GraphicNovel #SciFi”,

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 07:09:44 +0000

“The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

“Can anyone alter fate? All of us combined… or one great figure… or someone strategically placed, who happens to be in the right spot. Chance. Accident. And our lives, our world, hanging on it.”

I’m amazed again at another great story by Dick that I hadn’t read before. I admit I have seen some of the first season of the Amazon adaptation of this novel but the novel is far better than the TV show.

This story takes place in an alternate history where Roosevelt is assassinated and the Axis wins World War 2. Japan and Germany win the war and slice America up between themselves.

The plot is an interesting one. There is intrigue between Japan and the Nazis with the Americans stuck in the middle.

In typical Dick style, he moves between characters easily and uses their situations to shine light on the larger world of the novel. Some of the characters we follow are Mr. Baynes, a Swedish businessman in plastics, Mr. Tagomi, Japan’s Trade Minister in San Francisco, Frank Frink, a metal worker, Juliana, Frank’s (ex)wife, and the art dealer, Mr. Childan.

American art and culture before the loss in the war is very popular - Civil war guns etc.
Slavery is legal again.
Nazis have rocket travel, and have started traveling to Mars
The book The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a banned book in Nazi areas - it is an alternate fiction book where the Axis loses WW2. Many characters in this book are reading this novel. In the TV series, they have a banned film instead of this book. Some of the characters are amazed that there could be a world where the Axis loses WW2, it’s unfathomable to them.
The I Ching is very popular. People use it to help them make decisions.

When a book is so good, I am always vague about the plot in my reviews. I certainly don’t want to spoil this amazing book for you.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #8 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#SciFi #SpeculativeFiction #WW2 #Books #BookReview #AlternativeHistory”,

Minoan and Mycenaean Art by Reynold Higgins

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 06:53:01 +0000

“Minoan and Mycenaean Art by Reynold Higgins

I am fascinated by history and especially Greek history. I am a proud Greek-Canadian. In fact, I’m Cretan (not a cretin!), so the Minoan civilization is of particular interest to me. I’ve visited the palace of Knossos and other sites around Crete, but I also am eager for some ‘book’ knowledge of Minoan civilization too.

I enjoyed this book, but it is academic in tone, so this book is not particularly exciting. It is a very informative book though. There are many color pictures with detailed descriptions. Most of the art they talk about is pottery. I’m not sure if that’s only what has survived, or it was a conscious choice.

A few interesting things from the book:

Minoan potters influenced the Mycenaean potters even after being conquered by the Mycenaean’s ~1450 BC
Minoan pottery can be seen in frescoes in the Egyptian city of Thebes. This means that the Minoans were doing trade with them.
The famous Minoan ‘bull sculpture’ is actually a pottery vessel for liquid. The filling hole is one of the ears and the liquid can be poured out of the mouth.
The ‘double axe’ symbol may have been an offering for the Goddess Athena. They found many gold double axes in a temple on Crete. This symbol is dear to me because I inherited a double cross gold necklace from my father. It’s amazing that the symbols from ancient Minoan civilization live on in modern Crete.

I should probably read the modern history of Crete. I bought a very large book about the history of Crete when I last visited. So many books, so little time!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #7 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Crete #Minoan #Books #BookReview #NonFiction #Art #Greek #BronzeAge”,

This is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 21:48:52 +0000

“This is Not a Border: Reportage & Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature

by Ahdaf Soueif (Editor), Omar Robert Hamilton (Editor)

Writers are in a unique position in society - their gift is to help us feel emotions. They weave stories for us that make us angry. That can make us feel joy. That tear ourselves up inside with sadness. We revere writers for bringing us these emotions. They help us understand the world around us, and even understand ourselves better. What better people in the world to help you get a bit of the feeling of what Palestine under Israeli military occupation is like.

The Palestine Festival of Literature, established in 2008, brings writers to Palestine to share the power of literature. Although it is difficult to organize such an event, as even moving from one city to another may entail hours and hours going through checkpoints, it sounds like an amazing experience for the writers, the organizers, and the participants. I think it’s lovely they are fighting guns, with literature and fighting hate with hope.

I really can’t explain it better than the authors in the book so I’ll give you some passages that resonated with me:

The historical suffering of Jewish people is real, but it is no less real than, and does not in any way justify, the present oppression of Palestinians by Israeli Jews. - Teju Cole

–

It was Palestine’s great misfortune that it fed so many fantasies and answered to do many emotional needs. For centuries people had pinned their dreams and delusions on its land, seen it as their salvation, and tried to make it exclusively their own. If only it had been an ordinary place, without special house or a sacred geography, without telling or scripture, then perhaps we, its people, might have been left in peace. - Ghada Karmi

–

It’s not a wall. It’s a security barrier, a separation fence, an immigration control, a complex collection of cement and barbed wire and ditches and patrol roads, it’s an apartheid wall of racial segregation. - Omar Robert Hamilton

–

THIS POEM WILL NOT END APARTHEID by Remi Kanazi

this poem will not end apartheid

my words, no matter how beautiful clever or carefully strung together will not end the occupation allow the return of refugees or create equality within Israeli society

the status quo is a fantasy telling us it’s ok to sit on our hands call political art propaganda rather than calling those who politicise our lives propagandists

every American should ask this question why are mortars and missiles devastating open-air prisons with money that should be paying for our medical expenses?

to the academics and pseudo leftists i appreciate your books on Israeli massacres but you refuse to take bullets out of Israeli guns with your stances

the problem is not just the occupation or putting a better face on Zionism because 750,000 Palestinians were displaced

before those settlements were constructed half of them before Israel was created

we don’t need another book explaining the situation we need a lesson plan to stop the next bomb from dropping

silence is complicity over-intellectualisation tells us to theorise on the power of art while farmers are kicked off land children are stoned on the way to school people are caged in beaten and split from loved ones blasted and broken in blockaded dungeons bought and paid for with our tax dollars we are part of the problem that is not theoretical

 it is time
 to boycott *all*
 Israeli products
 and go to the root
 of the conflict

every 729 cultural institution and dialogue farce from Sabra to Ahava

–

If you only read one book about Palestine, this is the book to read. I read other books and learned lots of things about the system, but if you want to ‘feel’ it, read this to start.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #6 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Palestine #MiddleEast #Israel #PalFest #apartheid”,

Flow My Tears the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 22:04:04 +0000

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick

This one is a strange one. I’m still trying to get my head around it. It’s about a man who one day is famous and recognized by millions, to waking up the next morning and not existing, at least on paper and in all the data banks on Earth, and Mars. It makes him question what is real and not real. He also has to quickly get fake ident cards made so he doesn’t get deported to a forced labour camp. He tries to confirm his existence and figure out what happened to him. Why doesn’t anybody remember him? There are also police, pols, on his tail trying to figure out how this person could just erase themselves from all the data banks.

I don’t want to spoil the ending of this one for you. I wouldn’t recommend reading too many reviews of it either, it’s Philip K. Dick - it’s good, just read it. It’s short too (204 pages), so there isn’t an excuse to avoid this. Do I fully understand the ending yet? not really I’m still mulling it over but it is still good.

A story like this makes me think of the movie the Matrix. How do we know what’s real or not real? Are we all just living in some elaborate computer simulation?

This is a great story by Philip K. Dick. You’ll be thinking about this for days after you finish. It also makes me think I should read more stories from Dick too.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #5 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 21:51:36 +0000

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

In this one, he weaves together 3 stories: the monkey king, a Chinese-American boy who is trying to fit in at school, and cousin ChinKee, the racist stereotype of Chinese people. I think this would be a good book for discussion groups for young adults. It has themes of racism, identity, and bullying too. It also can introduce Westerners to a bit of Chinese culture.

The ChinKee bits are hilarious because the stereotypes are so bad. His dialogue goes something like this: ““Harro, I rove Amellicah””. The ChinKee parts are the boy struggling with his identity. The other American kids see him as a Chinese kid. It’s hard not to think this story isn’t partly biographical.

The drawings are great too. I really liked this story it ticks all my boxes: it’s funny story, and has some Chinese history in it.

This author also did the excellent Boxers & Saints series about the Boxer rebellion in China.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #4 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

Mon, 13 Jan 2020 21:20:22 +0000

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

A real look at the struggle faced by conservative Arab women living in America. They have to grapple with the claws of tradition, while raising kids in a ‘free’ country like America. I really love these multi-generational stories and this one is well-done. The dialogue is spot-on; it doesn’t feel forced at all.

I didn’t grow up in an Arab family, but I was brought up in a Greek immigrant household, in Canada so I can relate to this type of family. My grandparents put pressure on my mother to marry a Greek, not an skenos, outsider. There was pressure for us to preserve our language, culture, and of course attend Greek Orthodox church. Now I myself am an immigrant to Taiwan and am going through the ‘immigrant experience’ all over again.

More books about immigrants! I hope this book finds it ways into the hands of many young girls and encourages them to find their own voice.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #3 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny by Witold Szabłowski

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 22:17:09 +0000

Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life Under Tyranny by Witold Szabłowski

I was turned onto this book by my Polish friend. She is a huge cheerleader for all great Polish writers, such as this author and others like Olga Tokarczuk. I’m also very fond of original, funny, and clever book titles. It turns out I wasn’t disappointed by this book.

In the first half of the book, they talk about the dancing bears in Bulgaria. It talks about how they were banned, and then rounded up to be rehabilitated in a nature park. It tells this story from different perspectives: the bear trainers, their families, and the people working at the bear park.

Later the author shows how humans have the same struggle the bears do. They have difficulty letting go of their past, no matter how terrible we might now think it was. We have the ladies who adore Stalin working in the Stalin museum. We have the anarchists in Athens, and so many more people from all around the world.

The author seems to have gotten these incredible vignettes from people by hitchhiking around and meeting people. It may not seem that this book is very cohesive, but it is a better read than I describe. Now this book isn’t as tight a story line as Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich, but it is much lighter, and easier to read. The unifying thread throughout the book is that: some people dislike change, people are nostalgic for the ‘way things were’ when they were growing up.

I really love reading translated fiction. Translated fiction like this gives me a little peek into another world. I can get a glimpse of other people’s lives and ways of thinking. I truly think more people should read translated fiction. If you only read fiction in your native tongue, you are missing out on so many other beautiful, and different perspectives.

Speaking of Polish authors, if you want another one to check out, my friend recommends Andrzej Sapkowski. He’s the man who wrote ““The Witcher”” series.

The moral of this review is, listen to your bookish friends. You will discover new books you may never have picked up otherwise.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #2 in my My 2020 Reading Challenge

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 22:02:25 +0000

“Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (Spin Saga #1)

Incredible world spun up by Mr. Wilson in this sci-fi tale about a mysterious event and what that meant for humanity as a species. It’s a huge story but keeps you engaged because of his focus on the characters. I’m glad I chose this as my first book of 2020!

This isn’t hard sci-fi. There are no robots. There is no time travel. It’s a lot of fun though! I can see how this book won a Hugo award. I found myself waking up a little bit earlier than I had to, and then going to bed later so I could keep reading through this book.

NOTE: Although this book is part of a series, the ending of the book is pretty neatly tied up so you aren’t forced to read the others in the series.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #102 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#books #bookReview #SciFi #RobertCharlesWilson #HugoAward”,

Rocks & Minerals by Robert F. Symes

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 13:55:22 +0000

“Rocks & Minerals by Robert F. Symes (DK Eyewitness Books)

Another solid entry into the Eyewitness Guide series. This one seemed like it barely scratched the surface of the topic. Rocks & minerals are so omnipresent in everything that it’s hard to cover it all. There is also a lot of difficult vocabulary that it’s hard to keep things straight.

As with all DK Eyewitness books, they take an arguably dull topic, and make it interesting. You even learn a few things while you read this.

I buy these ‘for my kids’, but am the first to read them. I’m happy to know these beloved books from my childhood are still bringing joy to people in the world.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #102 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #NonFiction #Kids #EyewitnessGuides”,

Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 13:26:57 +0000

“Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl #2)

This is a continuation of the wonderful “Zita the Spacegirl” series by Ben Hatke. For those who haven’t read Zita the Spacegirl (and you should!), at the end of the story, Zita is stranded in space with her ‘friend’ (frenemy?) Piper after she saves the planet Scriptorium. In “Legends of Zita the Spacegirl”, she tries to avoid some of the unwanted attention brought on by her new ‘superhero’ fame, but in the process someone impersonates her and travels to go save another planet. The book is about her trying to get back to Piper and the gang, and also trying to save that other planet so she can get the reward, a time crystal, and find her way home.

Of course this book isn’t as original as the first one, and does end on a cliffhanger, but it’s still a fun, book for kids and adults alike.

I really like Ben Hatke’s style. My daughter loves it too. His stories have humour in them, and great illustrations too. His story’s are PG, and the aliens are whimsical but not too scary. I also appreciate that the hero is a strong, female. My daughter also loves his picture books, Julia’s House for Lost Creatures and the hilarious, Nobody Likes a Goblin.

I actually selfishly wish that Hatke would write more picture books, because even though my daughter adores the graphic novels, she’s only 6 and can’t read them on her own. In the beginning I was buying Hatke’s books for myself and reading them to my kids, but now that they’ve become superfans, I’m truly buying them for my kids. It’s great to see my kids becoming passionate about reading.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #101 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 13:21:32 +0000

“The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

What if the government decided that what you could remember? What if they enforced people forgetting certain things? Memory is at the center of this dystopian story set on an island. At seemingly random intervals, people wake up and feel a loss of something. They feel something at the edge of their memory is gone. For example, one day they wake up, wander outside, and then struggle to remember what those winged creatures flying in the sky are called. If they have any books, or other references to that ‘disappeared’ thing, they have to quickly eradicate it before the Memory Police finds it. Not all citizens on the island are affected by the disappearances though; some people can go on remembering the things others have forgotten, but nobody knows why. The Memory Police is focused on trying to root out those people.

The main plot of this story is centered on a writer, who befriends her editor, R, and soon discovers that he is one of the people who can still remember things.

This is a beautiful story about people struggling to survive under absurd conditions, and it makes you think about: who decides what we can remember? can’t remember? Under some authoritarian governments, this is a very real battle that’s still being played out.

NOTE: This is the 100th book I read this year. I completed my 2019 Reading Challenge! Wow!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #100 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #Books #YokoOgawa #dystopian #SciFi #TranslatedFiction #ManBookerIntl2020”,

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Sun, 29 Dec 2019 08:31:37 +0000

“Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I knew that this book was the inspiration for the masterpiece of a movie, Apocalypse Now, but I had never been inspired to read it. Then, I read the book The Dead Do Not Die where the author extensively uses the Heart of Darkness to give his story, ““Exterminate the Brutes””, context, and illuminate the racist attitudes in Britain and Europe at the time.

This book still holds up as a worthy classic to read as many, many parts of the world are still shaking off the shackles of colonialism, and tending to old wounds inflicted on them by Empire. It’s also a short classic book at only 111 pages. Conrad’s writing style is unique as he learned English, his third language, in his 20s. He draws you in immediately with his lyrical, some have likened it to a Shakespearean, style.

The story starts off with Marlow sitting on a boat telling his story of his trip to Africa. The reader is one of these listeners to this tale. Marlow tells of his job where he is sent up a river to retrieve Kurtz. This trip has a major impact on Marlow as he sees the ugly underside of the British empire, and how it affects natives.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #99 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #Books #JosephConrad #colonialism #racism #classic #Africa”,

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 06:50:51 +0000

“Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

I don’t read comic books anymore (not since I was a teenager) but I do like Neil Gaiman and history so this graphic novel was a good fit for me. The story was interesting. I could see at points where Gaiman was trying to tie things into the Marvel universe. I recognized most characters but will admit that I didn’t recognize them all. I read many reviews of this graphic novel, and I have the same gripe as most others do - where the heck is Wolverine? He could’ve been the perfect character to replace Rojhaz with. Oh well, it was still a fun ride. I will look up the characters I didn’t know and re-read again some day. A solid graphic novel, especially for fans of Gaiman and history.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #98 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #GraphicNovel #BookReview #HistoricalFiction #NeilGaiman #Marvel #superheroes”,

As Long as There is Resistance, There is Hope by Kong Tsung Gan

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 22:44:28 +0000

Essays on the Hong Kong freedom struggle in the post-Umbrella Movement era, 2014-2018

I got this as a ‘gift’ for donating to the Hong Kong Free Press which is an not-for-profit English-language newspaper. I was already a fan of this author after reading his book, Umbrella: A Political Tale from Hong Kong, and wanted to read his latest essays. The author is a passionate supporter of HK and is an active participant in the demonstrations, and marches he writes about. His essays at times repeat certain events and positions of his because these essays were all previously published elsewhere.

This book is an important historical document because we can’t leave it to China to record the history of what is happening in Hong Kong. I live in Taiwan, so this issue is dear to my heart, and we are on the front lines of Chinese aggression, along with Hong Kong, Tibet, and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Just writing this book an act of defiance, and bravery by the author. Writing this book shows China that not all of us will be cowed by their intimidation tactics and encourages others to stand up and speak the truth.

As I was reading this, Hong Kong is in the middle of a fresh campaign of resistance sparked by the attempt of the HK government to pass an extradition law with China. These new protests, already going on for 6 months, are a testament to the beautiful title of this book - As Long As There is Resistance, There is Hope and the resilience of the HK people.

I’m happy to support this author, support HK, and support the brave reporters at Hong Kong Free Press by reading this book. If you want to understand what’s really happening Hong Kong, read books by this author and read the news on HKFP.

Fight on brothers and sisters in HK! Resist. Jia you!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #97 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Supernova Era by Cixin Liu

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 22:37:45 +0000

“Supernova Era by Cixin Liu

“”…children had no opportunity to take part as a collective in the cruel struggle for survival, so of course their true nature wouldn’t be exposed. Oh, for the past couple of days I’ve been reading the copy of Lord of the Flies you gave me”" ““It’s a good book. Golding was one of the few adults who really got children.””

My opinion swung back and forth while reading this book. Some will say it is just a rehash of Lord of the Flies, which on the surface is a fair assessment, but that fails to take in the massive scope of this short novel. This novel talks about all the children of the world, although focus is placed on the Chinese children and the American children.

The simplest summary of this book is this: a supernova explodes, the radiation reaches earth and fatally wounds all humans over the age of 13, adults figure this out and train children to carry on, the adults die, and children reign over all the Earth.

Now putting aside the fact that many take issue with the science behind radiation from a supernova only killing adults, this story is about what would happen if children ruled the Earth? As with other Cixin Liu stories, there are lots and lots of characters and they are not really fleshed out much. Liu doesn’t do good character development, he’s more interested in world building. This turns off some people but that’s his style. His characters are only pieces on the board he uses to advance his plot.

I think if you look beyond the Lord of the Flies struggle, this whole book seems like a metaphor for our society, how can young people tear it all down and what would a new society look like? Do we have to continue venerating and holding dear the same things our ancestors have? Are traditions holding us back? Can we think of better systems to run the world?

““It’ll get better. Everything’s going to get better…”” I say from my heart.

This book was heading for a 2 star review, but it came together in the Epilogue for me and pulled itself up to 3 stars. This book is short, so you aren’t committing to a huge investment of time if you choose to read this unlike The Three Body Problem series. As you will see in other reviews of this book, some people really like this book and some people absolutely hate it. It’s an interesting thought experiment, but not the most thrilling sci-fi or speculative fiction I’ve read lately though.

Rating: ★★★ Book #96 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #CixinLiu",

This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 21:02:44 +0000

Max Gladstone",“This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

The strangest and most refreshing sci-fi thing I’ve read this year. Who knew that time traveling agents could weave such a poetic love story as the word burns, and gets built up around them. This book is short enough and beautiful enough that I think I could stand to re-read it.

I love the poetry of time travel with the imagery of time as a thread and the agents, Red & Blue, going upthread, or downthread, snipping different stands or tying them together. I love the way they skip through time through history trying to bend history to the vision of their warring factions. This book is just beautiful.

It’s not at all what I expected and that’s a good thing.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #95 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #AmalElMohtar #MaxGladstone #novella”,

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 20:53:47 +0000

“Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

This was a very long book. The book perplexed me. I liked the chapters about whaling and Sperm whales but disliked the ‘main’ narrative about Captain Ahab pursuing the whale, Moby-Dick. Now this book isn’t as over hyped as Don Quixote (or as boring!) but it is very strange. 80% of the book is about whaling, and a very minuscule amount is about catching the whale. Actually the whole episode with the whale in the last few chapters is over rather quickly and is quite unsatisfying.

This is a classic you can definitely skip, unless you dearly love reading about whaling. Lucky for me, I like the minutiae of that sort so I mildly enjoyed this book.

Rating: ★★★ Book #94 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #classic #HermanMelville #whales”,

American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 13:32:25 +0000

I usually read before bed, but reading this before going to sleep was a mistake. I did not sleep well. The book is about a predator, that kills random people, for no reason than pleasure. This person was pure evil. On the other hand, it was hard not to have just a little respect for his single-minded dedication to killing. The lengths he went to in preparing ‘kill kits’ in states all over the US, his circuitous travel routes, and his brazenness in attacking people in broad daylight.

The book starts with his last victim which led to his capture. Once he’s in custody, we get the interviews with him. We also get the behind-scenes-politicking going on between the FBI, other police departments, and the Attorney General. It is interesting to read the interviews and then find out what’s going on behind the scenes with the investigators trying to find more victims, search for evidence to corroborate his story, and to keep him talking.

Although this was a fascinating book, I was glad when it was finished. I don’t like to think about these sort of evil people too much; it makes me too paranoid and sad. I just hope there is a hell for people like this. I can also tell you that I was extra vigilant about watching my kids at the park after reading this book.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #93 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:29:20 +0000

This novel is generally regarded by most to be the first detective story and to have established many of the detective literary devices. The Wikipedia page about this book is an interesting document in of itself to find out more about the history and literary significance of this novel.

If this plot outline doesn’t intrigue you, nothing I say will:

Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance and extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond or the Koh-i-Noor diamond). Rachel’s eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party at which the guests include her cousin Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who have called at the house. Later that night the diamond is stolen from Rachel’s bedroom, and a period of turmoil, unhappiness, misunderstandings and ill luck ensues. Told by a series of narratives from some of the main characters, the complex plot traces the subsequent efforts to explain the theft, identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it.

The Moonstone, published in 1868, still holds up after over 150 years. I was drawn in right away by the first page where we learn dubious circumstances surrounding this family heirloom. It’s a story about the disappearance of a huge diamond, The Moonstone, which, after a death in the family, is inherited by Ms. Rachael. The story is told through many different points of views. These narrators all have their own personalities, and agendas. I hesitate to spoil any part of the fabulous novel by revealing too much.

I don’t read mystery or detective novels at all but really liked this. This is a great novel that stands on its own and transcends the ‘mystery’ genre. If you’re looking to get your feet wet with an easy to read classic book, you can’t do much better than this. It’s pretty short. It’s funny at times. It has reasonably short chapters. I would recommend not stopping midway through a narration though; when you jump back in it’s hard to get your bearings again and remember who is narrating the story. It was also harder for me because I was reading this on my Kobo in bed, while the kids were tossing and turning trying to get to sleep.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #92 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

My Experiment: Cutting back on Social Media

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 15:54:00 +0000

spend your time like you spend your money

On a whim, I tried an experiment, I stopped checking my social media, Mastodon, for about 13 days. Why? The better question is why not?

So, how was it?

It was great. I already use social media far less than other people in my estimation. I don’t even use an app for it, so I have zero notifications for it already.

I didn’t miss it. Sometimes, I would have the itch to take a quick look and see what’s happening but I didn’t succumb. I changed that habit into checking some news using my RSS reader.

What did I do the past 13 days?

Installed Leed (RSS reader) on Yunohost; now I can keep up to date on all my HK and Taiwan news very efficiently.
Unfollowed all those HK/Taiwan news sources on FB so remove impetus to check that for news
Setup NES/SNES emulator on my media server
Fiddled with my FriendlyElec Nano Pi R1
Read a lot more
Blogged a lot more
Reflected on how much time I ‘wasted’ on social media
Was more present in my interactions with family; I never had posts I read on my mind or wondered if people had responded to me
Lots of other little things I can’t remember…

No. I’ll still keep it around as a news source, but I certainly don’t need it in my day-to-day life.

Challenge!

Could you go cold-turkey on social media for 10+ days?
How did it go?
What did you learn?

Historium by Richard Wilkinson (Illustrator)

Mon, 02 Dec 2019 13:41:11 +0000

Jo Nelson",“Historium by Richard Wilkinson (Illustrator), Jo Nelson (Welcome to the Museum Series)

One of the many perks of being a parent is getting to read kids books without book snobs looking down on you. Also, I buy it for them, but also can enjoy it too. So the key to buying books for your kids is to buy books you enjoy. Yes they are ‘for’ your kids, but why can’t they be for both of you, right?

Now this is one of those ‘large format’ big books. It’s published by the publisher BIG PICTURE PRESS. It’s gorgeous. The fonts used for the titles are beautiful. The layout is great. The illustrations of museum objects are beautiful. The size is another factor - when I pick it up I feel I’m transported into the museum full of special things.

I appreciated that it spent as much pages describing Polynesian, and Australian aboriginal civilizations as it did on the ones these books usually gush over - The Greeks, The Romans etc. It was very balanced. Every item chosen for each ‘empire’ was chosen very carefully. They work together to tell a story. Of course, it’s impossible to tell the whole story of a civilization thorough only a handful of artifacts, but it gives the reader a good grasp of it. The reader can then start their own investigation of civilizations that interest them.

This book is in the same vein as Discover Kids Eyewitness Books. DK Eyewitness Books overwhelm you with information and it’s not concise at all. This book Historium shows you less things but it makes it clearer in my opinion. I have read many Eyewitness books but only one book in the series Welcome to the Museum series. I will be curious how the other books in the series stand up to this one, Historium.

So if you’re a history buff, and need to buy a book for you child (and yourself!) pick this up. Very fascinating book full of artifacts from old civilizations.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #92 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #history #PictureBook #Kids #RichardWilkinson #JoNelson”,

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 21:42:30 +0000

“The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Despite all the hype, a very powerful story of a black boy caught up in forces outside of his control in the early 1960s. The powerful twist at the end is a pretty effective gut punch too.

I grew up in a very multicultural area in Canada so reading these stories of cities segregated for Blacks and Whites seem like science fiction to me. I still enjoy learning about this chapter of America through these stories though, as they help give me a historical context to understand a bit better the tensions that they’re still having today.

If you skipped out on Whitehead’s excellent ““The Underground Railroad”” because you’ve read enough about the railroad in school, try this one. It’s only 224 pages long and is a very easy read. At it’s heart, it’s a story about two boys who are just trying to figure out how the world really works, and to find a way to survive.

PS the book cover is incredible too!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #90 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #JimCrow #racism #ColsonWhitehead #USA”,

Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 15:47:54 +0000

Ken Liu (translator)",“Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan, Ken Liu (translator)

I discovered Qiufan’s work in Ken Liu’s sci-fi anthology, Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation. I’ve been turned onto Chinese sci-fi ever since. I was enthralled by Liu Cixin’s ““Three Body Problem”” series. I devoured Liu’s 2nd Chinese sci-fi anthology too, Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation. I guess living in a repressive, authoritarian regime produces good sci-fi?

But I digress, this novel Waste Tide is a great novel. It’s about set in the not-too-distant-future where Silicon Isle (somewhere in China) is a e-waste hell hole. Migrant workers, ‘waste people’, move there to make their fortunes by sorting the e-waste. They eek out a living, quickly succumbing to illness and death, while the ‘clans’, comprised of locals, reap the vast rewards. The conflict in the novel is an American recycling company that is looking to help modernize the e-waste recycling program in Silicon Isle. This would upset the balance of power with the ‘clans’ of course. Mixed in there is a bit of mysticism/magic with VR headsets and some other things I won’t spoil for you.

I’m surprised the Chinese government hasn’t censored sci-fi like this. This book is a thinly veiled crack at China’s poor environmental track record (though it doesn’t leave the rest of the world unscathed), and its treatment of migrant workers. I suppose they are at tad busy suppressing freedom in Xinjiang and Hong Kong that they will let books like this slide for now.

If you like sci-fi and haven’t read any of the new Chinese translated sci-fi, you are really missing out. I would start with Ken Liu’s ““Chinese Science Fiction in Translation Series””. You may discover a few more favorite authors.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #89 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #China #ChineseLit #SciFi #ChenQuifan #KenLiu”,

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 12:50:11 +0000

“Drama by Raina Telgemeier

This graphic novel is quite different from her Smile series. The Smile series is an auto-biographical telling of her childhood, while this Drama story is about a high school girl named Callie who’s a set designer in the Drama club.

The author still has the same beautiful drawing style in this book, but the story didn’t feel as ‘real’. I didn’t get pulled into the story as much as the Smile series: Smile & Sisters.

I was reading this to my 5 year old daughter so the themes of this book: crushes, gay friend, prom didn’t really appeal to us.

Rating: ★★ Book #88 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #RainaTelgemeier #GraphicNovel #YA”,

Troubleshooting: Epicyon

Mon, 18 Nov 2019 19:05:35 +0000

Tried setting up Epicyon, an ActivityPub server, that federates with Mastodon on my Yunohost server at home.

I followed directions from: https://code.freedombone.net/bashrc/epicyon

I can’t sign in there to post my issue. I’m not sure if this is a configuration issue on my end or a bug.

Below I have pasted the error messages I got.

$ systemctl status epicyon`

● epicyon.service - epicyon
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/epicyon.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2019-11-18 18:50:53 CST; 12min ago
  Process: 8036 ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/epicyon/epicyon.py --port 443 --proxy 7156 --domain fe
 Main PID: 8036 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

`$ sudo journalctl -u epicyon`

> -- Logs begin at Sat 2019-11-16 09:44:29 CST, end at Mon 2019-11-18 19:00:41 CST. --
Nov 16 09:44:39 arkadi.one systemd[1]: Started epicyon.
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]: Traceback (most recent call last):
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/epicyon.py"", line 9, in <module>
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:     from person import createPerson
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/person.py"", line 19, in <module>
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:     from webfinger import createWebfingerEndpoint
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/webfinger.py"", line 81
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:     return f""data:application/magic-public-key,RSA.{mod}.{pub
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]:                                                              
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one python3[643]: SyntaxError: invalid syntax
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: epicyon.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAI
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: epicyon.service: Unit entered failed state.
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: epicyon.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: epicyon.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: Stopped epicyon.
Nov 16 09:45:03 arkadi.one systemd[1]: Started epicyon.
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]: Traceback (most recent call last):
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/epicyon.py"", line 9, in <module>
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:     from person import createPerson
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/person.py"", line 19, in <module>
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:     from webfinger import createWebfingerEndpoint
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:   File ""/opt/epicyon/webfinger.py"", line 81
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:     return f""data:application/magic-public-key,RSA.{mod}.{pu
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]:                                                             
Nov 16 09:45:04 arkadi.one python3[1152]: SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Yunohost Information

sudo yunohost tools diagnosis`

 host: Debian 9.11
kernel: 4.9.0-11-amd64
packages: 
  yunohost: 
    repo: stable
    version: 3.6.5.3
  yunohost-admin: 
    repo: stable
    version: 3.6.5
  moulinette: 
    repo: stable
    version: 3.6.4.1
  ssowat: 
    repo: stable
    version: 3.6.4
backports: 
system: 
  disks: 
    md0: Mounted on /mnt/hermes, 2.7TiB (2.3TiB free)
    sda1: Mounted on /boot, 231.3MiB (159.4MiB free)
    sda6: Mounted on /, 456.3GiB (303.5GiB free)
  memory: 
    ram: 3.8GiB (2.4GiB free)
    swap: 976.0MiB (976.0MiB free)
nginx: 
  - nginx: [warn] could not build optimal proxy_headers_hash, you should increase either proxy_headers_hash_max_size: 512 or proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size: 64; ignoring proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size
  - nginx: [warn] could not build optimal proxy_headers_hash, you should increase either proxy_headers_hash_max_size: 512 or proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size: 64; ignoring proxy_headers_hash_bucket_size
  - nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
  - nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
services: 
  avahi-daemon: running (enabled)
  calibreweb: running (enabled)
  dnsmasq: running (enabled)
  dovecot: running (enabled)
  fail2ban: running (enabled)
  glances: running (enabled)
  metronome: running (enabled)
  monitorix: running (enabled)
  mysql: running (enabled)
  nginx: running (enabled)
  nslcd: running (enabled)
  php7.0-fpm: running (enabled)
  pihole-FTL: exited (enabled)
  postfix: exited (enabled)
  redis-server: running (enabled)
  rspamd: running (enabled)
  slapd: running (enabled)
  ssh: running (enabled)
  transmission-daemon: running (enabled)
  uwsgi: running (enabled)
  uwsgi-app@ffsync: running (enabled)
  writefreely: running (enabled)
  yunohost-api: running (enabled)
  yunohost-firewall: exited (enabled)
applications: 
  calibreweb: Calibre-web
  ffsync: Firefox Sync Server
  keeweb: Keeweb
  monitorix: Monitorix
  nextcloud: Nextcloud
  pihole: Pi-hole
  searx: Searx
  transmission: Transmission
  writefreely: WriteFreely
security: 
  CVE-2017-5754: 
    name: meltdown
    vulnerable: False

The Road to Digital Self-Sufficiency

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 17:14:56 +0000

“The Road to Digital Self-Sufficiency

Self-hosting the Digital Services of my Life

Mission Walking the long and difficult road of trying to self-host the digital services that I use in my day-to-day life.

Why? When you’re using a free product, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.

If you host the service on your own server you can be sure that your data isn’t being harvested/sold to 3rd parties, and you are in control of your own data security & privacy. The person I trust the most with my sensitive data is myself.

Once I am successful in getting services self-hosted for myself, I will help family & friends to self-host too, or use services on my server.

So how am I doing? Am I self-hosting the services I use?

Summary of Digital Self-Sufficiency

Yes! - Internet Search, Online File Storage, Blog (3)

Not yet - Private Messaging, Social Media (2)

Not worth it - Email, Photo Album, Book Tracking (3)

Details below…

Private Messaging: Not yet.

Currently using: Signal app

Pros ✔: encrypted, can send files, voice chat
Cons ✘: run by one company, uses phone number as id #

I am trying to use XMPP service with the Conversations app from F-Droid on my phone. Currently, only text messages work. There is an issue with Yunohost implementation of the XMPP http_upload component.

My wife likes the interface of Conversations more than Signal, so she’s willing to switch with me when the image issue is fixed. Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon.

Internet Search: Yes!

Currently using: SearX installed on Yunohost

Pros ✔: no cookies, user profiling, user tracking
Cons ✘: image search isn’t as good as Google/DDG

SearX is a meta search engine that makes requests on my behalf to other search engines and aggregates the results. It doesn’t work so well with images, so sometimes I am forced to use DuckDuckGo if I’m searching for images.

Online File Storage: Yes!

Currently using: NextCloud via Yunohost

Pros ✔: stable, big developer community, sync client for Linux/Android, lots of add-ons.
Cons ✘: None.

Currently using: Mastodon (scholar.social)

Pros ✔: federated servers like email, no ads, no tracking
Cons ✘: you have to trust person running your server

Trying to configure Epicyon but currently having difficulties. I shall put more effort into troubleshooting it.

Yunohost has a Pleorama and Mastodon package that I can install but I messed up my server last time with them so I’m scared to try again.They both use Docker images which I’m not a huge fan of. Also, both of those implementations of ActivityPub servers are not very lightweight.

Email: Not worth it.

Currently using: Protonmail / [Tutanota] (https://tutanota.com/)

Pros ✔: ‘encrypted’ on their servers
Cons ✘: easier than self-hosting

Yunohost has a built in email server but it’s very, very difficult to configure it to not have emails rejected by Google Gmail servers. To make my emails be delivered, I would have to setup an external SMTP relay, so I would defeat the purpose ofself-hosting my email.

Email is an inherently insecure protocol so I don’t waste time trying to self-host. I just assume anything I say over email could one day be compromised.

Blog: Yes!

Currently using: WriteFreely via Yunohost

Pros ✔: lightweight, no extra features, federates with ActivityPub (mastodon etc)
Cons ✘: no images

Very easy to setup this blog WriteFreely on Yunohost. It’s still a very new product so you have to be careful to run daily backups because there is no way to easily restore all your blog posts if there is a problem. I run daily backups in Yunohost with a cron job.

Photo Album: No.

Currently using: Google Photos

Pros ✔: photos organized by date/location, automatically backup from my phone
Cons ✘: data on Google servers - privacy concerns

The only credible alternative I’ve seen to Google Photos is (OwnPhotos](https://github.com/hooram/ownphotos). It is not a mature product yet. I also don’t like that it runs on Docker images.

Book Tracking: No.

Currently using: GoodReads

Pros ✔: track books with Reading Challenge, view reviews, book covers
Cons ✘: owned by Amazon, website has trackers, hard to export data

No alternatives yet unless I just track books I read in a spreadsheet. I really love having book covers for my books, and sharing my reading with my friends.

Somebody from Mastodon is working on a project called ReadleBee that is attempting to be a GoodReads replacement. I wish him luck!

Note About Yunohost

I mentioned Yunohost a lot in this post. Yunohost is an awesome project that makes it very easy to self-host services on SBC computers like Raspberry Pi, or any old computer you have lying around. They have a great community on their forums and have lots of apps you can install with a click of a button. If you know how to do port forwarding from your router, you have enough knowledge to give it a good.

Yunohost Official Website

My Yunohost Installation Guide

Explorer (Eyewitness Books) by Rupert Matthews

Sun, 17 Nov 2019 17:11:31 +0000

Explorer (Eyewitness Books) by Rupert Matthews

These books are a blast from the past for me. Between every cover you find a mini museum. I remember these books sparking my love for history.

This book is about Explorers, so it’s about lots of white guys going around the world and ‘exploring’. These people did terrible things to the natives in the places they explored, but this is sanitized in the kids book. It’s a good jumping off point though to learn more history of how the world was ‘explored’.

I love the close up, labeled pictures of the instruments and equipment people used from the past. The hallmark of this Eyewitness series is these detailed, colour photos. This is the type of topic that excels in the Eyewitness history, because the information presented has little chance of being ‘out of date’. I recently read the Space Exploration book in the series but it was painfully out of date in the last few pages.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #87 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

The Stone of Heaven: The Secret History of Imperial Green Jade

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:29:45 +0000

“The Stone of Heaven: The Secret History of Imperial Green Jade

by Adrian Levy, Cathy Scott-Clark

This book is the history of Imperial Green Jade but really it’s a history of greed. This was the favoured type of jade that comes from Burma/Myanmar. It starts off as a history book of Chinese emperors and their obsession for the stone, but near the end turns into a travelogue of the authors going to the present day mines in Myanmar.

The story of jade is filled with so many twists and turns, it’s hard to accurately describe this book. It’s a long book, and filled with minutiae about famous people who collected jade, or were jade traders. It’s about drug lords extracting the stones. It’s about famous people who owned jade. I almost gave up halfway through when they kept talking about Hutton and other rich people who were addicted to buying jade jewellery but I’m glad I didn’t because I would’ve missed the story of how they visited the mines.

An overview on the path you will follow if you read this book:

Emperor and his obsession with jade
British trying to get the jade in Myanmar
Empress Cixi’s jade collection, Boxer rebellion, summer palace burned
Shanghai rich people buying and selling looted Qing jade artifacts
War in China, Nationalists trading weapons for jade
Civil war in Burma - military takes control of the mines
Authors travel to the mines in present day

Some funny parts of the novel are about Chiang Kai-Shek. He was a major player in the illicit jade buying and selling game during the civil war in china with Mao Zedong. We learn he was called ‘peanut’ head by villiagers in his hometown and by General Stillwell. Also he had the cute moniker, Mr. Cash-my-cheque as he was known to never turn down money or weapons from America.

The story of jade is a long one that is closely tied to Chinese culture and history. The authors did a good job of showing this thread although at times it was hard to see where they were going with some of their side quests. This was a fascinating book, but quite a niche one as well. I think you would have to be very, very interested in Chinese history and enjoy long history books to enjoy this book.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #86 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #history #jade #China #AdrianLevy #CathyScottClark”,

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 22:57:02 +0000

‘I care for nothing now,’ he answered hotly. ‘except to wipe out this brute from the face of creation. I would sell my soul to do it!’

I have made it my mission to read more ‘classic’ books this year. Earlier this year, I read The Old Man and the Sea, and Frankenstein: The 1818 Text. I attempted to read Don Quixote but it was far too long, and the ‘deep’ meaning was lost on me.

Dracula though was a great read! Vampires have become such a part of Halloween, and a common monster in Western culture that in a way it feels like I already know the story of Dracula. I was very wrong. This book is nothing like I expected and I’m glad to have read the original novel.

The novel is told in a series of journal entries, newspaper clippings, telegrams, and phonograph transcripts of the motley crew of characters who all know each other through a beautiful girl with many suitors. The beautiful girl meets a mysterious death, and suspicions are raised that something strange is going on. Van Helsing comes onto the scene. It is implied he knows a lot about these strange things.

It sounds really boring but it’s actually very well done. Bram Stoker keeps the tension up throughout the story. The narration jumps from character to character, sometimes we get the same event narrated by different characters too. It’s interesting that the character Dracula is not actually present in the story much at all. The main character(s) only meet him a few times in the whole novel.

Some day soon the Angel of Death will sound his trumpet for me. But don’t ye dooal an' gree, my deary! - for he saw that I was crying - ‘if he should come this very night I’d not refuse to answer his call. For life be, after all, only a waitin’ for somethin' else than what we’re doin'; and death be all that we can rightly depend on.

Now that I’ve read the novel, I am excited to watch the movies: Dracula (1931) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) to see how filmmakers have interpreted, and added to the vampire lore.

I only gave this 4 stars because the book cover is absolutely terrible. Barnes & Noble should fire the cover ‘designer’. I liked this book but couldn’t stand looking at this book cover any longer on my eReader. I’m glad I’m finished this book.

‘A brave man’s blood is the best thing on this earth when a woman is in trouble. You’re a man, and no mistake. Well, the devil make work against us for all he’s worth, but God sends us men when we want them.’

Now go on and read it yourself!

Rating: ★★★★

Book #85 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 21:59:49 +0000

“Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

(Smile # 2)

This was such a wholesome adventure! When reading this book, I felt it was about me and my family. I think I even enjoyed this more than Smile - review here!

I read this to my daughter, 5 years old, and suddenly this is her favorite book. She took it to ‘read’ at her kindy. She’s so cute! I think I’ve definetly sparked a joy of reading in my daughter.

I need to find other great graphic novelists to introduce to my kids. She already loves Ben Hatke. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #84 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Teen #YA #GraphicNovel #RainaTelgemeier”,

My GoodReads Rating Modification System

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 06:30:47 +0000

“My GoodReads Rating Modification System

Recently, I tooted on Mastodon:

life is too short…

to read books with less than 4 ★s on GoodReads

There are so, so many good books out there, but also so many trash books too. Since I only have limited years on this Earth, I don’t take GoodReads ratings at face-value. I have an internal algorithm I use to modify the ratings to personalize the ratings.

GoodReads Rating + Positive modifications - Negative modifications = Arkadi cloud personal rating!

-3.0 Book Cover with Man with No Shirt -2.0 Romantic Fiction -0.5 TOO MUCH HYPE! (a la Harry Potter, Becoming) -0.5 Dumb Cookie Cutter YA Fiction Series (Divergent, Maze Runner etc.) -0.4 Ugly/Boring Book Cover -0.3 Famous Author Near End of Career (books too long, editors don’t do their job - Murakami/Stephen King) -0.3 Hot Authors in Media ATM (i.e. Neil Gaiman) -0.2 Part of a Series (I hate the pressure) 0 -/+ +0.1 History book ex. Asia +0.2 Illustrations +0.2 Mixed Exposure (see this book talked about by different people, media, awards) +0.2 Witty/Funny Book Title (i.e. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress) +0.2 History book about Asia +0.3 Book Prize/Longlist (Booker, Nobel, National Book Award) +0.3 History book with photos/maps +0.3 Historical Fiction in USA/Europe +0.4 Friend Recommendation +0.5 Historical Fiction (Not USA/Europe) +0.5 Historically Important ““Classic”” Book (Heart of Darkness, Frankenstein, The Illiad, Moby Dick…) +0.5 Taiwanese History Book +0.5 Book Award Prize/Shortlist (Man Booker International, Women’s Prize, PEN/Faulkner, Hugo, Nebula)”,

Feast of the Innocents by Evelio Rosero

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 10:48:07 +0000

“Feast of the Innocents by Evelio Rosero

A doctor who’s in a terrible marriage, living in Pasto, is trying to yeah people the truth about the venerated Simon Bolivar on a holiday called Feast of the Innocents in Columbia.

It has a super strange setup for this kind of book in my opinion. I did learn more about Bolivar and the terrible things he did in Pasto, but did I enjoy this book? It was OK. I didn’t hate it but the ending was unsatisfying. The book just fizzled out at the end, there wasn’t a strong ending.

There are lots of interesting interesting elements in the book:

Doctor’s very weird relationship to his wife
Doctor writing a history book about Bolivar
Professor in town also shares unconventional views of Bolivar
Marxist group trying to stop professor and the doctor
Retelling of stories about Bolivar from survivors

I really wanted to like this book but it didn’t come together for me despite all those interesting elements. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody unless they are specifically interested in Columbian history and/or Simon Bolivar.

Rating: ★★

Book #82 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 06:45:19 +0000

“Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor

(Olympians #1)

The first in a series of graphic novels detailing the origins of the Olympians of Greek mythology. Initially, I wasn’t that excited about this book because of the lackluster cover design, but I still bought it because I can’t resist Greek mythology. Once I read it through though, I liked it. The author really respects the Greek mythology stories and has done his research. He even uses the more correct ““Greek”” transliteration of names such as Kronos instead of Chronos. At the back of the book he also gives you: notes on the story and Greek terms used, fact sheets for each monster/God in the story, and a list of recommended reading for younger and older readers.

The publisher of this book is :01 First Second. I want to give a shout out to them because every single book I’ve read from them so far has been gold. They also published Ben Hatke’s ““Zita Girl series””, and ““Boxers and Saints”” by Gene Luen Yang. They seem to have a good eye for cool authors, with interesting stories to tell. Keep an eye out for books by :01.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #81 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #GraphicNovel #GeorgeOConnor #Zeus #GreekMythology”,

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 06:40:36 +0000

“Smile by Raina Telgemeier

(Smile # 1)

It’s a graphic novel about a 7th grade girl already dealing with her complicated girl life and suddenly having a new issue to contend with - braces! I read this to my 5 year old daughter, but I’m sure I’ll read it to her again when she’s older and then she will read it herself too. This story takes you through the scary process of getting braces - even including the doctor visits - and the other minefields kids have to handle in middle school: crushes, fake friends, bullies, and self-image. I can tell the author is a 80s baby like me by the references she throw in there: The Little Mermaid! and Nintendo! The graphics are really nice. I’m tempted to get the whole Smile series now.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #80 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #Teen #YA #GraphicNovel #RainaTelgemeier”,

The Dead Do Not Die by Sven Lindqvist

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 19:37:47 +0000

“The Dead Do Not Die by Sven Lindqvist

This book is a masterpiece. It’s such a unique book on colonialism written as a mix of literary analysis, and travelogue. It’s actually two books in one - ““Exterminate the Brutes””, and ““Terra Nullius””.

““Exterminate the Brutes”” is an analysis of European exploitation of the locals in the different countries in Africa, mostly the Congo. It uses Joseph Conrad’s ““Heart of Darkness”” to give the story context, and illuminate the racist attitudes in Britain and Europe at the time.

““Terra Nullius”” is a journey through Australia’s grim past with aboriginals. The author travels to important locations all over Australia. As he tells the stories of each important station, road, and desert he mixes in his experience of traveling between the places forgotten by history.

The whole book sounds make a dark subject, genocide, very readable. Instead of a stodgy history book just detailing the abuses of the the white man towards the ‘savages’, we get a thought provoking, funny, sarcastic, and informative book about times in our history that most of us would like, or have been trained, to forget.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #79 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#books #BookReview #colonialism #racism #Australia #SvenLindqvist”,

Medusa Uploaded by Emily Devenport

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 09:58:48 +0000

“Medusa Uploaded by Emily Devenport

It starts out with an interesting premise, but it quickly devolves into a tedious, contrived, political type thriller. Well, ““thriller”” might be a bit of an exaggeration because there was no tension in the book. I didn’t really care about any of the characters. It tries to be sophisticated by name dropping classical music scores, and movies, but it comes off as trying too hard.

This book felt especially boring because I was reading the excellent book Children of Ruin at the same time.

Rating: ★★ Book #78 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#books #BookReview #SciFi #EmilyDevenport”,

Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Fri, 18 Oct 2019 08:53:04 +0000

Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky

NOTE: This is the second book in the Children of Time series. You really do need to read the first book, Children of Time, to have context while reading this book. If you don’t, you can still understand the story, but you’ll lose the richness of the interconnected story. Also some of the main characters/species are introduced in Children of Time.

This is the type of sci-fi I really, really enjoy. It’s technical and it challenges the notion that humans will be the dominant life-form in outer space. The story starts out with humans going to terraform a world, but due to unforeseen circumstances, that mission is scrapped. Instead the humans decide to explore and study the world. In the midst of this new mission, they encounter life and then the book becomes about them and their development as a species/society. This book bounces back and forth from the Past, to the Present. It’s also told from multiple characters/species perspectives, but it was never too difficult to follow.

If you liked The Three Body Problem trilogy, give Children of Time/Children of Ruin a shot. It’s a complex, but engrossing sci-fi that rewards its readers with a very unique story.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #77 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 12:18:30 +0000

“The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

When I first heard there was a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, I had mixed feelings; I wanted to find out more about the origins of Gilead, but also didn’t want the author (to possibly) taint the legacy.

Now that I’ve read it, I know that both feelings were right. I enjoyed it mostly, but still other things left a bad taste in my mouth.

What I liked:

finding out more about Aunt Lydia and the Aunts
learning how Gilead began and some of the backstory
story told from the perspective of 3 different people: Aunt Lydia through her secret manuscript, and two witnesses
setting is still in Canada! Go Canada!

What I didn’t like:

how characters were tied together at the end felt a bit contrived
pacing felt rushed from page 300-407
Witness 369A(or B) and her weird cool girl manner of speaking

“The inventor of the mirror did few of us any favours: we must have been happier before we knew what we looked like.” - The Testaments

Sometimes it’s better to leave the audience with unanswered questions. My GoodReads friend, Amanda, sums it up better than I.

Amanda rated it ★★ ““This was such a letdown! I love The Handmaid’s Tale…it’s unique, shocking, disturbing in all the right ways. This sequel, however, seemed like a typical YA dystopia. The best part of the Handmaid’s Tale in my opinion is the ambiguity of the ending, and this whole booked filled in blanks that were more thought-provoking if they were left empty. Whatever new information we learn about Gilead isn’t needed. I wonder if this book was written mainly because of the success of the TV show*. "”

She mentions the TV show. I only watched the first season so far, but it is excellent in bringing the world of Gilead to life. I’m not sure how good it is, or isn’t in subsequent seasons though.

The main question you’ll be asking yourself, should I read it?

Yes and no. If you are the kind of person who must know everything and want to read it for sake of ‘completeness’ or reading all the books in a series, then give it a go. But if you don’t read it, you won’t be missing much. You could save yourself a bit of time and just read a plot synopsis to get those burning questions of yours answered.

Rating: ★★ Book #76 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#books #BookReview #MargaretAtwood #dystopian #YA”,

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

Sun, 06 Oct 2019 14:26:34 +0000

“Permanent Record by Edward Snowden

I already read his book No Place To Hide. That book is more about Snowden’s life, escape and life after. If Snowden was a superhero (and he sort of is to me), this book details his origin story, in his own words. What caused Snowden to abandon his life to do what is ‘right’? Who does that sort of thing? What are his views on freedom, and privacy?

Technology doesn’t have a Hippocratic oath. So many decisions that have been made by technologies in academia, industry, the military, and government since at least the Industrial Revolution have been made on the basis of ““can we,”” not ““should we.””

Snowden and I are born in the same year - 1983 represent! When he describes his childhood of being a high school nerd, who learns more from computers, than at school, I can relate. The internet changed my life and gave me such hope for the future.

As the millennium approached, the online world would become increasingly centralized and consolidated, with both governments and businesses accelerating their attempts to intervene in what had always been a fundamentally peer-to-peer relationship. But for one brief and beautiful stretch of time – the stretch that, fortunately for me, coincided almost exactly with my adolescence – the Internet was mostly made of, by, and for the people. Its purpose was to enlighten, not to monetize, and it was administered more by a provisional cluster of perpetually shifting collective norms than by exploitative, globally enforceable terms of service agreements. To this day, I consider the 1990s online to have been the most pleasant and successful anarchy I’ve ever experienced.”

I credit Snowden for sending me down the road to digital freedom and increasing my awareness of my online privacy and security. I feel he is the voice of my generation for technology. He has a vision of what the internet could be, and should be.

I’ll leave you with some quotes from the book:

…the privacy of our data depends on the ownership of our data. There is no property less protected, and yet no property more private.

A world in which all people were totally surveilled would logically become a world in which all laws were totally enforced, automatically, by computers. After all, it’s difficult to imagine an AI device that’s capable of noticing a person breaking the law not holding that person accountable. No policing algorithm would ever be programmed, even if it could be, toward leniency or forgiveness.

Each of us has our own idea of what it is. ““Privacy”” means something to everyone. There is no one to whom it means nothing.

…saying that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. Or that you don’t care about freedom of the press because you don’t like to read. Or that you don’t care about freedom of religion because you don’t believe in God. Or that you don’t care about freedom to peaceable assemble because you’re a lazy, antisocial agoraphobe. Just because this or that freedom might not have meaning to you today doesn’t mean that it doesn’t or won’t have meaning tomorrow, to you.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #75 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge “,

Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:54:54 +0000

" Max by Sarah Cohen-Scali

A funny, well-researched and thoughtful story about Max who finds himself at the center of the Nazi baby program during World War 2. This book is the winner of an English PEN Award and is ““Endorsed by Amnesty International UK as contributing to a better understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them.””

Now don’t expect a literary masterpiece, as this is YA fiction but it was still very good and interesting. The characters were believable and the plot was good. Certainly this would be a great story to get kids thinking about human rights, and learning about World War 2 as well.

The cover is a great conversation starter too; it’s an outline of a fetus wearing a Nazi armband.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #74 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge",

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:46:06 +0000

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi

A twisting labyrinth of stories from large group of interconnected families in Oman. Each chapter is a stream of consciousness reflection on a part of their lives from the past or future. Just like all families, they have their secrets. It doesn’t really all come together until the end but you can sort of guess what’s coming. They all struggle with following tradition, and with the decision to follow their family’s wishes or their own.

I sort of enjoyed this book but I had to turn back to the family tree at the beginning of the book almost every time I read it. The names of the characters are difficult to remember, and a few of the characters have the same name. Each chapter is named after the character. Every chapter bounces from one character to the next, causing me to bounce back to the beginning of the book to view the family tree.

The setting of Oman didn’t pop out for me as strongly as settings in other translated fiction books I’ve read. I was a bit disappointed with this book overall. I didn’t come away knowing too much more about Oman after reading this book. This is a very underwhelming book, especially considering it somehow was the winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2019. At least 60 of the other novels I read this year are better than this one.

Just off the top of my head if you want a way better translated fiction novel try: Disoriental (Iran) by Négar Djavadi and The Watermelon Boys by Ruqaya Izzidien (Iraq).

Rating: ★★

Book #73 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge",

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 13:35:44 +0000

“Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Sci-fi melded with Hindu Gods? Right. It doesn’t seem like it would work, but it kinda does. It’s not an easy read though; names are difficult and characters change names because they change bodies.

It’s certainly a unique and strange book. I enjoyed it, but I like lots of weird things. I’m glad that it’s finished though too. The chapters are very long! This is a 284 page book with 7 chapters in it.

This Guardian review sums up this book quite well.

Rating: ★★★ Book #72 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi #hinduism #RogerZelazny”,

The Empire of Necessity: Slavery

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 13:26:38 +0000

Freedom, and Deception in the New World by Greg Grandin",“The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World by Greg Grandin

This is one of those very large, very beautiful hard-cover history books with illustrations and pictures in it that open your eyes to something you knew very little about. This is about slavery and it uses a slave revolt on the ship, The Tryal, to give this book a narrative that’s easier to follow along. As the author makes his way to explaining the slave revolt on the ship you learn a lot along the way.

This book does a good job of taking a very large (and potentially overwhelming) subject and breaking it down into manageable chapters of information. It links all the information through the narrative. It also ‘attacks’ the subject from all angles so you get quite a full picture of slavery from the point of view of slavers, regular people, people working on the ships, the Spanish, the English, the Americans, etc. It also has very detailed notes at the end of the book giving you even more information on important people, and things mentioned in the book.

These kind of books, you read them and reflect on them for months after.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #71 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #history #slavery #GregGrandin”,

The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 23:06:51 +0000

“The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa

A short novel, a novella really, about two women traveling back to Morocco, where their families are from, and they get caught up with smuggling back a person to Europe. Of course, something goes wrong and it details the plight of these ladies.

Not much to say about this one, it’s short, sweet and too the point. It certainly is very topical as it talks about the struggle of immigrants trying to find a better life for themselves and their family in Europe, at any cost. It isn’t a very deep novel. It only scratches the surface of the topic.

It’s too bad this story isn’t from multiple perspectives. We don’t get to hear much at all from the immigrant Murat at all. This novel could’ve also taken another approach and had different immigrants trying to come in to Europe from different countries, for different reasons.

Rating: ★★★ Book #70 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TranslatedFiction #TommyWieringa #Morocco”,

Once Upon A Time in the East: A Story of Growing Up by Xiaolu Guo

Sun, 08 Sep 2019 13:57:26 +0000

“Once Upon A Time in the East: A Story of Growing Up by Xiaolu Guo

A story so fantastical, it’s hard to believe it’s not fiction. Xiaolu had quite an upbringing. This book is her memoir and it doesn’t hold back. She includes some real pictures from her life and even calls out the person who sexually assaulted her as a teen.

In China, creativity mean compromise. Creativity no longer bore it’s original and intended meaning. Creativity under a Communist regime requires the struggle to survive under such rigid rules, and for all creative thoughts to be kept to oneself.

This is a page turner with just enough drama, passion, and politics to keep it humming along. The main character is the author, but she also goes into the backstory of her grandparents, and parents as well so this book has quite a bit of depth. This means that she touches upon different experiences in her family members lives that help you feel a little bit what it was like to live in Mao’s China: the census, one child policy, Tiananmen Square, and cultural revolution.

I am a bona fide sinophile, but I think this book will appeal to the general reader. It’s a story about the universal struggle of being a woman in difficult times. Also, as an ex-pat, the later chapters really spoke to me. The experience of searching for a mate, struggling with the long distance family relationship, and feeling like an outsider in your ‘home’ country, and your new country.

Looking at GoodReads, of all of Xiaolu Guo’s books, this is her highest rated one but I still think I have to check out some of her earlier works. She writes in a clear, and ‘truthful’ manner.

Some have likened this to an updated version of Wild Swans, but I think that’s does a disservice to this book; this is better.

I had spent the last decade with one foot in each world: West and East. I couldn’t say I was fully here, and I certainly wasn’t fully there. Of course I found myself longing for the sounds of my childhood and its familiar flavours. But I have swallowed that longing. I told myself: I have lost my country and I am in exile, even if it is self-imposed. My work is all I have and my work is my only meaningful identity. But is that enough? Am I really living fully?

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #69 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #XiaoluGuo #ChineseLit #memoir #China”,

At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 21:52:28 +0000

At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong

A story told from multiple perspectives of people’s lives and how they were all caught up in the modernization building boom in the 1980s in Korea. The main character is a rich man, a verifiable rags-to-riches story, who has become very successful. As he’s at the end of his career, he wonders at what cost have all his riches come?

I lived in Seoul before so I really enjoy Korean Literature. I can smell, and see the places the author talks about. This is a nice and short book that gets to the point rather quickly. It starts with a very long chapter that is a bit overwhelming, but if you can get through that, the book gets better after.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #66 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Books by Polish Writers: Szukalski and Tokarczuk

Sun, 01 Sep 2019 16:39:52 +0000

Books by Polish Writers: Szukalski and Tokarczuk

I recently finished two books by Polish authors. One is an art book by a creative ‘genius’, unrecognized as such, on his theories, sketches and sculptures about Zermatism. The other book is by a celebrated author that is currently having a moment. The authors being Polish seems to be the only thing these two books have in common, though they both seem to be eccentric.

Behold!!! the Protong by Stanislav Szukalski

How to describe this book? Szukalski’s theories are way, way out there. Some of them are borderline racist. You can still see the genius in his work though. For this book to be better appreciated, I would suggest you watch the Netflix documentary on the man, Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski.

The book is large format with large beautiful illustrations. The book is about Zermatism, which is his own theory of world history. He uses art from all over the world, from different civilizations, to put together his unified theory of the Deluge (huge flood), and subsequent scattering of the people all over the world. He decodes the names of everything using Protong, his own interpretation of the words using Polish pronunciation. As I type this out, I realize how crazy this all sounds.

Whether you read this book or not, you have to check out the documentary. His art is some of the most surreal, and interesting stuff I’ve seen in my life. He blends symbols from many cultures, and adds his own political ideas in there in such a unique way, that it’s difficult to describe.

I really wish it had more pictures! I now must seek out his other picture books which seem to be really quite rare and out of print.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #67 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Without a doubt Anger is the source of all wisdom, for Anger has the power to exceed any limits.

Olga Tokarczuk is one of hottest Polish authors at the moment. Her book Flights won the 2018 Man Booker International prize and Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize.

Children are soft and supple, open-minded and unpretentious. And they don’t engage in the sort of small talk in which every adult is able to gabble their life away. Unfortunately, the older they are, the more they succumb to the power of reason;

In this meandering story, we follow the life of an eccentric, old woman who lives in the mountains of Poland, close the the Czech border. She’s deeply into astrology and is a defender of all animals. This book is short on plot but contains beautiful prose about the woman, her philosophy, and her life. There are some mysterious murders that begin to occur around where the woman lives. This book follows the murders and how this old woman lives her life in the mountains.

We live in a state of siege. If one takes a close look at each fragment of a moment, one might choke with terror. Within our bodies disintegration inexorably advances; soon we shall fall sick and die. Our loved ones will leave us, the memory of them will dissolve in the tumult; nothing will remain. Just a few clothes in the wardrobe and someone in a photograph, no longer recognized.

The old woman has some poignant and funny diatribes on aging, and sickness.

Being healthy is an insecure state and does not bode well. It’s better to be ill in a quiet way, then at least we know what we’re going to die of.

This old woman is thought of as crazy by most of the people living near her but she doesn’t care one bit.

But why should we have to be useful and for what reason? Who divided the world into useless and useful, and by what right? Does a thistle have no right to life, or a Mouse that eats the grain in a warehouse? What about Bees and Drones, weeds and roses? Whose intellect can have had the audacity to judge who is better, and who worse?

I loved this book very much. If you read Flights, and didn’t like the stories jumping all over the place but enjoyed Ms. Tokarczuk’s style, you should try this book instead. This is one linear narrative that is much easier to follow.

We are all subject to Error: Who shall say that we are not all subject to Crime?

I hope these quotes I’ve included give you a sense of Ms. Tokarczuk’s style. She is quite a great writer! I love discovering new authors by following the Man Booker International prize. I suggest we all step out of our comfort zone a bit and read some more translated fiction!

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #68 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

The White Book by Han Kang

Sun, 01 Sep 2019 16:30:58 +0000

“The White Book by Han Kang

A book about colour? Yes it’s about colour, but also about the author’s life. Her mother had children before her, but they didn’t survive. This book seems to be about the author working through the pain but also wondering what her life would be like if her siblings had survived.

The book is organized by words of white things. For every thing, for example Salt, the author recounts a feeling, anecdote or a short story from her past. The whole book is very short but it’s a very interesting book. The stories are all over the place but they do sort of connect together and they keep circling back to the author’s siblings that died just a few hours after birth. I’ve never read a book just based on a colour but it seems the right way to write this book.

In Asia, white is the colour for death. You have white flowers at the funeral of people. This book is about death but I don’t want to scare you off, it’s a beautiful book as much about life as death.

This author, Ms. Kang also has written some other powerful books like The Vegetarian, and Human Acts. If you haven’t read her yet, you should!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #65 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #HanKang #TranslatedFiction #KoreanLit”,

To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

Sun, 25 Aug 2019 08:50:37 +0000

“To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

In 1885, Alaska is still the Wild West and hasn’t been tamed. A soldier is tasked with traversing the Wolverine River with a small band of men bu he has to leave behind his wife as he undertakes this difficult journey. We are told this story through journal entries from the soldier and his wife. We also get some news clippings, pictures, sketches, and even poetry from another member of the mission.

There are difficulties and mysterious happenings along the way to do with the Native Americans who live in the river. The men have to navigate these relationships as well as the wild Wolverine River.

This was an exciting adventure story. You have to give it a a few chapters to draw you in though. I would say this is an example of great historical fiction - I am drawn into a story while also learning about the historical context of the men and women at this time.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #64 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #EowynIvey #HistoricalFiction #Alaska

“,

The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

Sun, 25 Aug 2019 06:46:25 +0000

“The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

A beautiful story about an alien who comes to Earth on a mission. He has to learn to fit in, and earn lots and lots of money, but living on Earth changes him as well. This sort of reminded me of the story The Humans by Matt Haig. It’s interesting to see humans from the alien perspective. We are just as strange as the aliens!

I want to be careful not to say too much about this story so I don’t spoil it for you. This book certainly deserves to be in this SF Masterworks collection. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this author as I consider myself well-read in sci-fi. I found out that he is well-known for his book Mockingbird. I have added that to my To-Read list as well.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #63 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #WalterTevis #SciFi #SFMasterworks #BookReview”,

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

Sun, 11 Aug 2019 23:08:10 +0000

“Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi

A powerful account of a murderer, prostitute, and just a woman taking back her freedom and dignity in the world. This is a true story of a woman in Cairo, Egypt sentenced to death for killing her pimp. She tells her story to a psychiatrist the night before she’s executed.

Here are a few quotes to give you feel for the book. This is far too complex, raw, and emotionally powerful book for me to write a review worthy of this book.

Quote 1

When they pronounced the word ‘patriotism’ I could tell at once that in their heart of hearts they feared not Allah, and that at the back of their minds patriotism meant that the poor should die to defend the land of the rich, their land, for I knew that the poor had no land.

Quote 2

I came to realize that a female employee is more afraid of losing her job than a prostitute is of losing her life. An employee is scared of losing her job and becoming a prostitute because she does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers. And so she pays the price of her illusory fears with her life, her health, her body, and her mind. She pays the highest price for the things of the lowest value. I now knew that all of us were prostitutes who sold themselves at varying prices, and that an expensive prostitute was better than a cheap one. I also knew that if I lost my job, all I would lose with it was the miserable salary, the contempt I could read every day in the eyes of the higher level executives when they looked at the lesser female officials, the humiliating pressure of male bodies on mine when I rode in the bus, and the long morning queue in front of the perpetually overflowing toilet.

Quote 3

A woman’s life is always miserable. A prostitute, however, is a little better off. I was able to convince myself that I had chosen this life of my own free will. The fact that I rejected their noble attempts to save me, my insistence on remaining a prostitute, proved to me this was my choice and that I had some freedom, at least the freedom to live in a situation better than that of other women.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #62 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #NawalElSaadawi #Egypt #TranslatedFiction #BookReview”,

The Good People by Hannah Kent

Sun, 11 Aug 2019 23:02:09 +0000

“The Good People by Hannah Kent

This is the sort of historical fiction that I enjoy. It’s well researched enough that you are learning a lot about the time-period but the story is also compelling enough that you want to keep reading; you don’t always get both of these in every historical fiction.

The setting is 1825, Ireland. The story is primarily about Nance Roche, who is a herb woman, and about Irish folk beliefs, more specifically, fairies. The way of life in Ireland at this time is well detailed and the details of 19th century village life really draw you into the story. Kent uses lots of Irish phrases which you can look up to learn more about them but I’m not sure I’ll be able to ever pronounce them properly!

At the heart of the story, this is a story about superstitions but sometimes superstition is so rooted in everyday life, it is hard to see it as such. Superstition in this story gives a poor widow, Nora, hope that her child can be changed back to normal with the knowledge of The Good People (fairies) that Nance possesses.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #61 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #HistoricalFiction #HannahKent #Ireland #fairies #BookReview”,

Tinker

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 15:36:04 +0000

Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré",“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré

It’s the oldest question of all, George, Who can spy on the spies? Who can smell out the fox without running with him?

This is an intense, slow burn of a thriller. You are taken on a journey through the history of the Circus, the British intelligence service, by Smiley. Smiley is someone who has been retired. He along with some others are going through the past and present to try to find out who is the mole.

This is not the spy thriller of Hollywood with extraneous gun battles, and copious explosions. This is a deep character study of Smiley and the other spies caught up in this ‘conspiracy’. This is sort of spy mystery where most of the action is ‘interrogations of spies who tell Smiley about the important events in the past from their perspective.

The pacing is perfect and near the end you just can’t put the book down because you want to know who is the mole. I’m told this is the 1st of The Karla series, a set of 3 loosely connected books.

This book was far more interesting than one of his newer books I recently read, The Night Manager. I didn’t get the sense of le Carre’s mastery of the spy genre from this novel. I certainly felt awe while reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy though. I can see why many hold this up to be a sort of a modern day spy classic.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #60 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #JohnLeCarre #spy”,

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 15:31:31 +0000

“The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

You can see where the plot is going from the moment you pick this up. Does that mean it’s not a fun read? Hell no! This is a summer movie. This is eating ice cream in bed. This is well-done, fun sci-fi. It’s a perfect beach read.

Scalzi is great at world building but his characters are pretty one-dimensional. I didn’t even realize this was a series until I picked it up. I generally dislike reading series because they leave you hanging at the end. This book does exactly that. You will have to read the next 2 books of The Interdependency to see where this goes.

One thing that bothered me a bit was how Scalzi tries to give his spaceships witty names like Iain M. Banks does in The Culture series. When Scalzi does it, it just seems lame and like he’s ripping off Banks.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #59 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #JohnScalzi #scifi”,

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 14:01:06 +0000

“The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

I had heard a lot about this author, and this book before reading it. Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel prize in literature recently too.

So coming into this book you could say I had high hopes. The first 90 pages were boring. I didn’t want to press on, but I really dislike abandoning books. I soldiered on, eventhough I wasn’t really enjoying the story.

Alas I was finally rewarded with some joy about 100 pages in. This is far too slow an opening for a book that is only 355 pages long.

That being said, I did enjoy the book once it was finished. The story was interesting and does have sort of a fable-like quality to it but unfortunately it takes far too long to get there. I fear many readers won’t get past the 100 page hurdle of a boring married couple walking around being rather dull.

A better book by this author is Never Let Me Go. Do not watch the movie first! The book is far more interesting and the movie spoils all the surprises entirely too quickly.

Rating: ★★★ Book #56 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #fantasy”,

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 14:00:28 +0000

“The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

Lisa See writes about what she knows and wants to learn more about. She’s has a Chinese American background and most of her books explore themes of being a Chinese immigrant. Her books usually have a woman as the protagonist who has to deal with a difficult tradition of their culture.

This book is no different. It has all the ingredients that Lisa See is known for and make for an enjoyable read:

historical setting in China
tea culture (growing tea, processing tea)
Chinese culture (Ahka hill tribe people marriage culture)
Chinese American kid looking for their roots

It was a good read. It brought me sorrow, pain, happiness, and taught me a lot about Pu’er tea and the whole system of tea cultivation from growing, picking, selling, and even drinking.

Ms. See’s books are always very well researched and it shows in her books. I appreciate that in her acknowledgments she’s very specific with things she researched, or people that helped her and how these elements shaped the story. It gives you insight into how she develops her stories.

Other books I enjoyed from Lisa See were: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and China Dolls.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #57 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge #BookReview #LisaSee #tea #HistoricalFiction”,

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 13:59:23 +0000

“The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu

Ken Liu is maybe most well-known for his stellar translations of other superstars like Ci Lixin (Three Body Problem) but he also is a great writer in his own right.

This collection of stories are varied. Some are about: historical fiction, alternative histories, evolution of humans, robot ghosts, and even musings on the book making habits of fictional alien races.

In each story Liu can blend elements from Chinese folklore, history, and culture into all his work. He puts a piece of himself into all these stories along with his fantastic imagination. I also appreciate how he often leaves a note at the end of his stories to a link to the idea that sparked the story.

Stories in this collection:

The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species
State Change
The Perfect Match
Good Hunting
The Literomancer
Simulacrum
The Regular
The Paper Menagerie
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition
The Waves
Mono No Aware
All the Flavors
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary

NOTE: The short-story ““Good Hunting”” has been adapted into an episode of Netflix’s ““Love, Death + Robots”". It’s episode 8 in the series.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #58 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge #BookReview #KenLiu #scifi #ShortStory”,

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Tue, 16 Jul 2019 12:16:04 +0000

“Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Coming into this book I already had a bit of a negative feeling about it. I dislike over-hyped books and movies; normies gushing over books usually gets me running the opposite direction.

Why did I read this book? My friend kindly lent it to me and it was sitting on my desk. It’s the summer so I haven’t been in the mood to really read any ‘heavy’ books, so I gave it a try.

Now everything you’ve heard about this book is correct, he name drops so many culture references that is tends to get annoying. Usually these things he talks about doesn’t really add to the story except to give the reader some nostalgia. I’m currently listening to the 80s Ready Player One movie soundtrack, so I guess it’s working?

The story is a trope we’ve seen before: misfit boy saves the world against evil corporation and gets the girl. It’s not a complicated plot and it moves along quickly. Are the characters cardboard cut-outs? Yes but it’s still a perfect summer read; the chapters are short, and it’s like eating junk food - it makes you feel good.

There are lots of nerd and gamer references that I, as a former gamer growing up in the 80s, appreciated. In my opinion, I’d label this a YA novel in the same vein as The Maze Runner. It’s fun to read. I’ll probably forget the plot in a few days but hey, what are you expecting? This is not an award winning book for its writing. This is a summer movie. You know what will happen just a few pages in but you still want to go along for the ride.

I was expecting to hate this book but I actually enjoyed it. I was expecting to ‘hate read’ it then, write a nasty review but lookey what I wrote. It wasn’t all that bad. I guess sometimes the normies can hype up books that are pretty good, but, for the record, I still hate Harry Potter.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #55 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #YA”,

Close Call for my Server - Always Keep Backups!

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 14:41:54 +0000

I had a close call this week with my Yunohost server which hosts all my essential services including WriteFreely, and Nextcloud. I had a few days of downtime before ‘resolving’ the problem.

Being the summer break, I attempted to try self-hosting a few more services on my Yunohost server.

First, I tried Own Photos, a self hosted alternative to Google Photos. It looked really neat but once I installed it I saw that it was running on 6 interconnected Docker containers. I like the idea of Docker, but don’t know much about troubleshooting Docker stuff. I quickly deleted Own Photos because it didn’t work immediately after installing. I am very careful to avoid time-sinks. Google Photos works great, but I would rather self-host my photos. I shall keep looking for alternatives.

Then I tried Mastodon. I have been thinking about running my own instance for some time now as I could try inviting some of my family or other Taiwanese expats to join my instance. Since the app was rated 7/8 on the integration scale I thought I’d give it a try. After it installed, I was getting 401 errors. I loathe troubleshooting something right away, so I uninstalled it. While uninstalling Mastodon I got a few weird errors but ignored.

Next, I tried Pleroma. There was also a level 7 integrated Yunohost app so I thought there was no harm in trying it. It installed no problem, but then also had errors right away. I couldn’t login to the admin account, or nor with any other users. I gave up. I don’t really need to have my own Mastodon instance, but I wanted one.

Finally, after installing and uninstalling these apps I started to notice strange dbus errors which prevented me from updating apps, and doing other things on my server. More information can be found here.

It seemed that nobody knew how to solve this mysterious problem so I was just about ready to reinstall my whole Yunohost system today when somebody on the forum suggested I reboot my server. That seemed ridiculous because I already rebooted before posting my problem on the forum but I was ready to try anything at this point.

So, I rebooted the server. I restarted nginx and ssh services. Suddenly, everything was working again although I’m not sure why. I’m still thankful that everything is working again. I’m not scared to reinstall my server, I do have backups, but it certainly is time consuming.

I have a pretty good automatic backup system in place using cron tab, and Borg Backup with borgmatic.

Run sudo yunohost backup create once a week to local hard drive.
Borg Backup of yunohost backup + Nextcloud Data folder once a week to external RAID 1.
After Borg Backup, remove that yunohost backup on local hard drive.
Wait one week, then repeat step 1!

Now that I’ve had this scare I’m going to reevaluate how I can make my backups more complete and better optimized to save me time if, God forbid, I every have to actually use it.

Save borgmatic config file - /etc/borgmatic/config.yaml
Save my contacts & calendar CalDAV data that is in Nextcloud
Save WriteFreely blog posts in separate file
Save Pihole blocklist files

So remember everybody, plan for the worst, hope for the best! Don’t trust your computer but check out your backups. Backups are even more critical for self-hosters, than people who outsource their data to Big Data.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Mon, 15 Jul 2019 13:58:08 +0000

“The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Ok so the moon is a penal colony. Not again right? But wait, this novel was written in 1967, so this concept must’ve been unique at the time. Well this is a novel about revolution in space. One of the main characters is Mike, a super powerful computer that has gained ‘consciousness and builds up a friendship with the non-stupid computer technician Manuel. It’s about politics as much as it is ‘sci-fi’. It moves very fast and is written in a fast-moving style and you have little chance to admire the scenery. Heinlein is about the action!

I really enjoyed this book. I have read many books about the moon being a penal colony and how their is friction between the earthworms (people from Earth) and the Loonies (people from the Moon), but this is the 1st one I’ve read that takes you through a revolution of independence.

Also, look at these awards:

Hugo Award for Best Novel (1967)
Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (1966)
Prometheus Hall of Fame Award (1983)

I’ve read a few of these SF Masterworks but so far this is the most engaging one, compared to The Doomed City, and The Gods Themselves. I really enjoy the title too. I think this was one of the main reasons I initially was drawn to this book; never underestimate the power of a catchy title.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #54 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #books #moon #SciFi”,

Not Forgetting the Whale by John Ironmonger

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 16:24:57 +0000

“Not Forgetting the Whale by John Ironmonger

A story about a naked man washed ashore in a the tiny fishing village of St. Piran, and a whale.

This would be a great beach read! It’s very easy to read, with funny characters…and um…features a whale. I won’t spoil the plot of this story but it’s very much a meaning of life, city vs. country folk, and fish out of water type of book.

Also, the cover art is whimsical, and beautiful.

Also ‘bad thing coming’ is a major theme of this story, so here are two good quotes about that.

Advice from Papa Mikkel…

‘Give the crisis a score,’ the old man would say. ‘Mark it out of one hundred. Then look at the horizon as if nothing mattered, and ask yourself how much it would score tomorrow. And how much next week. And next year. Will they write about this matter in your obituary? Will anyone die? If not, you can turn to face it once again and recognise it for the imposter it is.’

A business man talking about oil to the main character of the book, Joe.

“”…We’ve built the greatest society that mankind has ever known - a global society. We communicate across continents, we think nothing of jumping on an airline for a meeting in Zurich or Seattle or Shanghai. And yet all of this, everything we have created, rests upon a finite fluid resource that we’re busy burning away. Did you ever think about this, Joe?”"

““I’m thinking about it now, sir.””

#BookQuotes Not Forgetting the Whale

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #53 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview",

The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 16:03:49 +0000

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris

I’ve read many historical accounts of the Holocaust. I’ve watched movies. It’s something so terrible to even imagine and yet as humans we are curious to ‘experience’ it through media.

The writing isn’t especially amazing, but that story is quite interesting. It is a powerful love story of luck, determination, amidst the horror of the concentration camps of WWII. It doesn’t have to be so well written because all the movies and books I’ve read (Schindler’s List, Unbroken, Photographer of Mauthausen etc) give your mind adequate imagery to add to this story.

“”…a man who lectures on taxation and interest rates can’t help but get involved in the politics of his country. Politics will help you understand the world until you don’t understand it anymore, and then it will get your thrown into a prison camp. Politics and religion both.”"

Rating: ★★★ Book #52 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview",

China Dream by Ma Jian

Thu, 04 Jul 2019 21:37:29 +0000

China Dream by Ma Jian

We all have regrets, it’s hard to move on in life unless you make piece with them. You can’t just pretend they didn’t happen, but usually we learn from the mistakes in our past. What happens when a whole nation is made to forget though? What happens when a nation doesn’t learn from their past mistakes? China is a nation built on forgetting the past and this novel explores this dichotomy of this forced ‘forgetting’ in China.

Being a Chinese official is a tough life between juggling the mistresses, hiding bribes, attending dinners, lieing and you still even have to do the job you were appointed to do. This story is about one official who keeps having flashbacks to the Culture Revolution as he sees parallels of the past in the present. He wishes he could just forget, but things aren’t that easy. Can he carry on with suppressing the evil for the past, or will it tear him apart?

This booked reminded me of another ludicrous look at the insane world of Chinese politics, Party Members by Arthur Meursault.

If you want a non-fiction read about how one of the most pivotal moment’s in China’s recent history has been buried, then read The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited by Louisa Lim.

P.S. don’t you love the cover art? It was made by another Chinese dissident, Ai Wei Wei.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #50 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific by Robert D. Kaplan

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 22:14:13 +0000

First off, this book has wonderful cover art. I got the hardcover version, and although this book is slim, it packs a punch. It also has two very detailed maps of the South China Sea (SCS) region in the beginning of the book that shows the competing claims by all countries.

The book begins with an overview of the region and the current situation. Many nations are flexing their muscles to (re)gain control of ‘islands’ in the SCS. Some of these islands are very tiny and even covered by water most of the time. The countries in the region, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, want control of these islands because of the possibility of oil and gas hidden in the sea floor. Along with oil and gas, the fishing rights around these islands is very important.

In every chapter, Kaplan analyzes the political situation in every country. He gives a good overview of each country’s history to give context to the current conflict in the SCS. He pulls in lots of quotes from other books and from government officials to flesh out the story. Kaplan is very good at stitching together a very compelling narrative and makes politics an exciting thing to read about.

Malaysia: I wasn’t very aware of the history of Malaysia so this chapter was very interesting to me although this chapter seemed a bit light on details compared to the subsequent chapter on Singapore.

Singapore: This was an excellent, very clearly laid out chapter. This is another nation I know very little about, but he gives a good history lesson on Singapore. He also talks a lot about their very important leader Lee Kuan Yew and his philosophy of leadership.

Philippines: I didn’t realize how weak the Filipino army is before reading this. It looks like it won’t be a major player in this confrontation except as a proxy for America, the Philipines being an ally of USA.

Taiwan: Balanced reporting on Taiwan although I disliked him using the term mainland China. Taiwan is not a big player in the SCS game. It’s mostly jockeying with China for a few islands that are equidistant from China and Taiwan.

China: Lays out some scenarios of possibility for the future.

Throughout all of the book it the USA is mentioned as a balancing force in the SCS to keep China from getting too comfortable.

If you’re interested in Asia, and the analysis of military strategy, you shall enjoy this! The South China Sea has become one of the most important places in the world because a rising China is getting involved and flexing it’s muscle.

Rating: ★★★★

Book #51 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Using GoodReads.com

Sun, 30 Jun 2019 23:17:11 +0000

“Using GoodReads.com

Yes, Amazon is evil. I don’t like using their products but there is nothing else as good as GoodReads.com keeping track of books I read. They have the largest, most up-to-date book database and the most functional website compared to the alternatives.

What do you use GoodReads for?

Reading reviews of books
To remember books I want to read (‘Want to Read’ shelf)
Keeping track of what I’ve already read (‘Read’ shelf)
Seeing what my friends are reading
Participating in The GoodReads Reading Challenge

What’s your typical workflow when reading a book?

First, when I decide to start a new book, I add it to my ‘Currently Reading’ shelf.
Next, once I actually start reading it, I update its status to 1% read.
Then, after I finish the book, I update it to 99% read.
Finally, after writing, and posting a book review on Arkadi Cloud, I rate the book, and paste in the link to my review.

Why don’t you update your status as you read the book?

Mostly I’m lazy but I also don’t want to give Amazon so much meta-data about: how fast I read the book, when I read or spam my followers with too many updates on my reading.

Why post your review on your blog?

I post on my blog for the same reason I don’t update my status as I read the book. I don’t want to contribute more data (free reviews) to Amazon’s website or contribute more meta-data to their algorithms.

I certainly don’t mind sharing my review with other users of GoodReads, but keeping it on my blog gives me control of my own content. I could delete all my blogs from Amazon in one fell swoop if I took down this blog.

I don’t have any analytics or ads on my blog so I’m not making any money here, but rather taking a stand, albeit small, against the behemoth Amazon.

So why do you only update it at 1% and 99%?

For me, 1% signals that I actually opened the book and started reading it. When it’s 99% that means I’ve finished the book but haven’t written the book review for it yet.

Do you use tags? lists?

Nope. I’m lazy. I’m not sure what the point of ‘tags’ are other than to give Amazon more meta-data for their database.

Most underrated feature of GoodReads?

A three way tie between: Year in Books, Reading Challenge, and Reading Stats. It’s a tie because they work best together. You can find these features under Your reading activity on your My Books page.

Year in Books: A beautiful summary of your book journey for the year. It shows you the shortest and longest book you’ve read, the average page length, the most popular book you’ve read (highest rating) vs. the least popular, as well as showing you all books you’ve read. It has some cute graphics and book covers on this page. It also gives you a share button to share on social media, of course.

Reading Challenge: A setting where you ‘pledge’ to try to read X number of books. It helps you track your progress. If you meet your goal they give you a sort of brag page sort of like Year in Books at the end of the year. I highly recommend everybody take part in the Reading Challenge. It doesn’t matter if you meet or exceed your goal but just the act of keeping track of your reading will help you increase the amount of books you read.

Reading Stats: A page where you can see some neat graphs, and charts of your reading stats. You can get a line graph of books you’ve read, or pages read per year. You can see a dot plot of books read by publication date (gosh I’ve mostly read books from the 20th-21st century! this needs to change!). You can also pull up line graphs of pages read over time, or books read over time.

Now, what about you…

How do you use GoodReads? Or how do you track your reading?

Please post your comments on Mastodon. This blog posts at @tootbrute@blog.arkadi.one

Thanks for reading!”,

The Doomed City by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Sun, 30 Jun 2019 08:51:01 +0000

“The Doomed City by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

This is a sci-fi book that is actually a criticism of Communism. Published in 1972, it’s about The Experiment, where people have volunteered from different countries, Nazi Germany, Russia, America, and are forced to live in a city whose rules are made by The Mentors but they make no sense.

““The Experiment is the Experiment,”” said the Mentor. ““It’s not understanding that is required by you but something quite different.”” ““What?”” ““If one only knew…””

Now this book is a weird read. It’s funny in its absolute absurdity at times, very Kafkaesque. I think that this book must’ve been more powerful if you read it in Russian and had lived in a Communist country. This book is still interesting, weird, and sometimes laugh out loud funny but it also doesn’t make sense at times. I think some of the allusions went over my head.

I understand the historical importance of this book, which is well explained in the prologue and epilogue of this book, but it’s still a weird book that was difficult to read and understand.

““Everything in the world is worth no more than shit,”” said Izya.

3 stars for the book, 1 star for the historical importance.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #49 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #SciFi”,

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

Sat, 29 Jun 2019 17:19:46 +0000

“21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

This book looks at 21 things the humankind has to consider, change, and contemplate so that we avoid extinction and irrelevance by the 22nd century and beyond. Harrari has a knack for making astute observations and predictions about the future in a humorous way. You wouldn’t think this sort of book would elicit laughter, but at times it did. He tears down almost every religion, and ridicules the other self-destructive tendencies humans have to make his point.

Harrari is also the author of Sapiens, and Homo Deus. This book is sort of the end of his ‘trilogy’ on mankind. Sapiens is about early humans and how we evolved into what we are today. Homo Deus looks at the future of humans. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century finishes what he started in Homo Deus.

This book is a tad depressing in the beginning because he talks about how robots will take our jobs and other distressing trends. Then he goes on telling us that it won’t be the worst of it, the worst part will be the rich will probably start modifying their bodies/abilities in ways that actually they will be better than regular homo sapiens. This will make the rest of us worse than jobless, it’ll make us irrelevant.

After he gets past these inconvenient truths, the book is a bit easier to swallow. He certainly gives humankind a lot to think about. I only hope people in power are listening.

Harrari is great at writing Big History, where authors link trends from more than one field into one over-arching narrative. Jared Diamond used to be my go-to author for Big History, but he’s lost his touch. Although, I still recommend everybody Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies to anybody interested in world history.

Quotes I Enjoyed Property is the prerequisite for long-term inequality.

…people are happy to give away their most valuable asset - their personal data - in exchange for free email services and funny cat videos. It is a bit like African and Native American tribes who unwittingly sold entire countries to European imperialists in exchange for colourful beads and cheap trinkets.

…online giants tend to view humans as audiovisual animals - a pair of eyes and a pair of ears connected to ten fingers, a screen and a credit card. A crucial step towards uniting humankind is to appreciate that humans have bodies.

Humanity has very little time left to wean itself from fossil fuels. We need to enter rehab today. Not next year or next month, but today. ““Hello, I am Homo sapiens, and I am a fossil-fuel addict.””

Human power depends on mass cooperation, mass cooperation depends on manufacturing mass identities - and all mass identities are based on fictional stories, not on scientific facts or even on economic necessities.

So in the twenty-first century religions don’t bring rain, they don’t cure illnesses, they don’t build bombs - but they do get to determine who are ‘us’ and who are ‘them’, who we should cure and who we should bomb.

There is something deeply troubling and dangerous about people who avoid killing just because ‘God says so’. Such people are motivated by obedience rather than compassion.

Every religion, ideology, and creed has its shadow, and now matter which creed you follow you should acknowledge your shadow and avoid naive reassurance that ‘it cannot happen to us’.

The system is structured in such a way that those who make no effort to know can remain in blissful ignorance, and those who do make an effort will find it very difficult to discover the truth.

When a thousand people believe some made-up story for one month - that’s fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years - that’s a religion, and we are admonished not to call it ‘fake news’ in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful (or incur their wrath).

Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda maestro and perhaps the most accomplished media-wizard of the modern age, allegedly explained his method succinctly by stating that ‘A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousands time becomes the truth.’

Humans have this remarkable ability to know and not to know at the same time. Or more correctly, they can know something when they really think about it, but most of the time they don’t think about it, so they don’t know it.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #48 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Reading the Classics

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 14:48:33 +0000

“Reading the Classics

I want to start reading some more classic books. For my purposes, I will consider everything written from before the 20th century as a classic. I hope to read at least one classic book from every century from the 19th century, to before 0 CE. This project might take me a while, but I feel it’s important to read the voices of our past, as it helps us understand the present.

Books with links to my reviews and/or check marks have been read.

20th Century CE (1900-1999) Ulysses by James Joyce (1922) ✓ The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse (1938)

19th Century Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley (1818) ✓ Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866)

18th Century Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (1791) Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

17th Century Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1605) Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1600) Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667)

16th Century Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1595)

15th Century

14th Century The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1390) Inferno by Dante Alighieri (1320)

13th Century

12th Century

11th Century

10th Century

9th Century

8th Century

7th Century

6th Century

5th Century

4th Century

3rd Century

2th Century

1st Century CE Beowolf - Author Unknown (975) ✓

The Year 0 CE

1st Century BCE (100BCE - 1 BCE)

2nd Century BCE Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (180 BCE) ✓

3rd Century BCE The Republic by Plato (380 BCE) [currently reading!]

4th Century BCE History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (411 BCE) Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (429) Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (480)

5th Century BCE The Art of War by Sun Tzu (500 BCE) ✓

6th Century BCE

7th Century BCE The Odyssey by Homer (725) ✓

8th Century BCE The Iliad by Homer (890 BCE) ✓

9th Century BCE

10th Century BCE The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon (1002) The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (1008)

11th Century BCE 12th Century BCE 13th Century BCE 14th Century BCE 15th Century BCE 16th Century BCE 17th Century BCE 18th Century BCE 19th Century BCE 20th Century BCE 21st Century BCE The Epic of Gilgamesh (2100 BCE)”,

The Paper Trail: An Unexpected History of a Revolutionary Invention by Alexander Monro

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:59:49 +0000

A super, detailed look at the paper in the way it influenced empires, their culture, and religion. This book reaches back to the Tang dynasty to the origins of paper. It stays with China for quite awhile because they were very important to paper in the beginning. Then it moves onto how Buddhist writings helped spread the acceptance of paper. Next, it moves into the Middle East. Finally, it moves into Europe and how the Renaissance, and religious writings there helped move the rest of the world to paper.

I really enjoyed this book. It doesn’t delve much into the physical way that paper is made, and I wish it did a bit, but focused wholly on the culture of using paper in government and personal use. There is a lot of detail here. If you like little tidbits about how certain words came about like ‘gazette’ (a word derived from a Venetian monthly newspaper, published in 1556), you’ll love this book. If not, move along.

The author has an extreme passion for books and the way they changed our lives. I would say the middle section of the book about the Middle East is not as strong as the parts about China, and Europe but that’s to be expected I think from a non-Arabic speaking author. I also venture a guess that Middle East paper use is not as well researched as in the context of China and Europe.

I really liked this book and now have to make a decision, either to keep it as part of my reference books I collect on China/Taiwan, or sell it to make room for new books. It’s certainly a dilemma I now face.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #47 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Waiting by Ha Jin

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 22:42:05 +0000

“Waiting by Ha Jin

Good things come to those who wait, or so we’re told. This is a story of love in a difficult time, during the Cultural Revolution in China. A man has a wife, then falls for another, but how can one horse pull two carts?, as one character in the story puts it. He has to wait for a divorce but there are complications and he changes along the way too.

This novel is about the passing of time. It’s about how people change. It’s about how sometimes we don’t know what we really want.

The setting is nice too as it puts it into the historical novel category and you get a feeling for what it was like to be working as a medical professional in the Chinese Army during the Mao era.

I enjoyed this novel. It doesn’t have even a 4 star rating on GoodReads. It won both the National Book Award for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award. I think this novel has low ratings because people want novels that have excitement and a fast moving plot.

This book is neither fast, nor ‘exciting’. It’s about the main character, Lin Kong, the man who’s juggling two women. It’s about his character and how he navigates a difficult path: divorcing his wife with honor, while not cheating on his wife with a new woman, and also keeping work off his back about it all.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #46 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #TranslatedFiction”,

Leonardo & His Times by Andrew Langley

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 18:02:27 +0000

“Leonardo & His Times by Andrew Langley

(DK Eyewitness Guides)

I love these books. Whenever I visit a used bookstore, I buy any DK Eyewitness whenever I see them.

This one is titled: Leonardo: Discover the Renaissance - an age of experimentation, creativity, and discovery. Don’t be fooled by the title; it isn’t all about Leonardo. That may be a relief or disappointment to you. Leonardo is mentioned a lot in the book as an important person during the Renaissance, but it doesn’t ignore other figures of the time.

All in all, a good introduction to the Renaissance with great pictures. The best thing about the DK Eyewitness Guides are the large, detailed images. It is like visiting a museum.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #45 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #NonFiction #Kids #EyewitnessGuides”,

The Ancient Greeks by Imogen Greenberg & Isabel Greenberg

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 17:39:52 +0000

“The Ancient Greeks by Imogen Greenberg & Isabel Greenberg

While wandering the aisles of the Big Bad Wolf Books, I found this gem. As I’m a Greek-Canadian living in Taiwan with kids, it’s very important for me to pass on my Greek culture to my children; one way I can do this is through books!

This book is sort of like a graphic novel with interesting facts about the ancient Greeks. I learned a few facts from this book, but this book is mostly aimed at children 8+. I enjoyed flipping through this book, which is tall and not very wide, like a menu. The graphics are cute and the captions are funny!

This book is a good introduction to the ancient Greek civilization. They introduce poets, the ways Greek civilization has influenced other countries, the Olympics. It also has a great big map at the back of ancient Greece and a timeline of major events and famous Greeks. It certainly will quickly become a favourite of my children I’m sure.

They also have books about the Aztecs, the Egyptians, and the Romans. I will have to collect them all!

Rating: ★★★★ Book #44 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #NonFiction #Greek #Kids”,

Galatea by Madeline Miller

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 15:28:29 +0000

“Galatea by Madeline Miller

Miller has a talent for bringing to life the world of Greek mythology. As a person of Greek heritage, I’m glad that she’s bringing the passion of Greek myths to people who might know the myths. I read her books Circe, and Song of Achilles and thought they were both excellent stories that remained faithful the the spirit of the myths they were based on.

Galatea is based on a myth I’m not familiar with I’m ashamed to say. This is based on the story of Pygmalion. He is a gifted sculpture who makes a very beautiful marble statue of a woman. He falls in love with the statue and the Gods turn her into a real woman for him. Then they get married and live happily ever after (I suppose?).

The story of Galatea doesn’t retell that part of the myth but rather looks ahead to what would their marriage would be like if the statue was married to the man. What feelings would she have? What would she life (or die for)? This is a short story but still a nice read. I love how Miller retells these myths from the female perspective with is almost always neglected in Greek mythology.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #43 in My 2019 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #Fiction #GreekMythology #ShortStory”,

The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 23:00:36 +0000

“The Gods Themselves - Isaac Asimov

Asimov is a giant of sci-fi , for good reason; his novels always incorporate some unique science concept mixed with some sort of ethical dilemma.

In this book, humans stumble onto this magic technology which gives us unlimited, clean energy. Of course it’s not quite that simple and the energy is actually coming from another universe which is inhabited by aliens who are also in need of energy/food. Due to the inherent design of the tech, it will destroy one of the universe’s in time. There are scientists scrambling for the glory of the discovery of the tech, while others are trying to prove how dangerous this tech is and try to stop it. The other universe aliens have their own reasons for wanting this tech, and they have their own different kind of triad society. For the final part of the book, the perspective shifts back to the moon colony, and some scientists try to ‘save’ the day by fixing the tech.

This book was written in the 70s but could easily have been written just a few years ago. The magic tech with limitless energy is so convenient to use that nobody wants to switch. This is like the Earth’s dependence on oil. In the final part of the book, a character quips that nobody will listen to the problem with the magic tech unless they present a solution at the same time. I enjoy novels like this that explore ethical quandaries that society finds itself in due to new technology because lasers and spaceships exploding for no reason just gets boring without a purpose.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #42 in My 2019 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #Scifi”,

Early People (DK Eyewitness Books)

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 15:52:03 +0000

Early People (DK Eyewitness Books)

Yes this is a kids book but they are still lovely to read as an adult. I remember reading these books as a kid. They I would go to the library and read one after another. It was like visiting a museum. History would come alive on those pages and I would learn a lot about animals, knights, and other things.

This one is about early humans from even before homo sapiens. There is lots of detail for civilizations from the western world but not much for Asia. China is only given 2 pages. The theme of this book is very expansive so they included what they could. A book about Early Humans could easily fill thousands of pages!

I credit DK Eyewitness Books for awakening the love of history in me when I was a kid. When I read this on the couch, my daughter poked her head in and asked ““Daddy, what’s this?”” and I got to explain the way of the world to my daughter. Is this not the magic of a book? The internet cannot compete with the joy of flipping through these sorts of rich, graphical books and sharing them with children.

I’m going to read 3 more of these books I have sitting on my shelf: Butterfly & Moth, Explorer, and Leonardo.

Rating: ★★★

Book #41 in my My 2019 Reading Challenge

Vermilion Sands by J.G. Ballard

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 15:08:49 +0000

“Vermilion Sands by J.G. Ballard

A collection of short stories taking place in a futuristic desert, beach-like resort of Vermilion Sands, where the rich, and eccentric reside. Each of these stories has a different type of tech that is at the center of story: sonic sculptures, VT machines (to write poetry), pychotropic homes, singing plants, etc. These stories are neither utopian nor dystopian but rather show a possible future the author had in his head in the 1970s. It’s certainly weird, but is it good? Some of the stories were, others were sort of stale.

A much better book by J.G. Ballard is ““High Rise”" which is a dark humor story about living in a futurstic high-rise where things go awry.

Rating: ★★★ Book #40 in My 2019 Reading Challenge #Books #BookReview #Scifi”,

Aetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:20:06 +0000

Aetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya

Quite an mixed bag of stories. The most interesting stories are the ones where the author talks about her experiences, or observations of the world. I particularly liked her story about traveling in Crete. A lot of stories weren’t that memorable but I still enjoyed this whole selection.

The write writes with passion, and humour. In the middle of stories she pivots with ease from on topic to another. I feel like I’m in a bar with her and she’s regaling me with stories from her life. The stories feel very authentic. I love her Russian sense of humour and perspective in life.

Rating: ★★★

Book #39 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Sun, 02 Jun 2019 16:20:15 +0000

“Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Earthsea Cycle #5

This was a good entry into the Earthsea cycle. It goes into the backstory of Roke, and fleshes out the more parts of the Earthsea world in some places that we don’t know much about. There are some stories about different witches and mages in Earthsea that are just regular people, and their little adventures. At the end of the book, there are some descriptions about the kings, geography of Earthsea, and other miscellaneous things.

I felt this book was a bit ruined for me because parts of it seemed so familiar. I had such a strong feeling of deja vu while reading ““The Finder”” and ““Dragonfly””. I wonder if I had read this book when I was young. I thought I might’ve read some of the stories in ““Unreal & the Real: Selected Stories of Ursula K Le Guin: Volume 2 Outer Space Inner Lands””, but I checked the contents of that book, and there don’t seem to be any stories that are found in both.

Because of this feeling of having read it before, reading this was difficult for me. It didn’t grab like like the previous 4 novels because it didn’t feel new and exciting. Another reason I struggled to get into this was that I was concurrently reading ““Freedom and Death”” by Nikos Kazantzakis. That novel exerted a far greater pull on me.

Nevertheless, if you enjoyed Earthsea #1-4, you won’t be disappointed by this one.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #37 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #fantasy #LeGuin #Earthsea #books”,

Freedom and Death by Nikos Kazantzakis

Wed, 22 May 2019 12:49:29 +0000

Freedom and Death by Nikos Kazantzakis

The book is described as Kazantzakis' Iliad, and that felt like exaggeration for me but after finishing this book, I agree. Crete has a long, bloody history, but it’s proud people always fight back. This book for me was an education in the Cretan spirit of resistance.

The first book by Kazantzakis I read was ““Zorba the Greek”” and it was great. I then tried reading ““Report to Greco”” but got stuck halfway through. It was a good book but is in need of editing. It was written at the end of his life so he never had the chance to edit it as much as he should. That book kinda put me off from reading Kazantzakis, but am I not Cretan? I must read more of his books. I’m glad that I got over my trepidation and attacked this book. I will be mulling over this book for a long time.

““Better an hour of life in freedom than forty years of slavery and prison,””

I’m Cretan by blood and my blood was getting hot reading this. Crete hasn’t changed as much as other places in the world, so though you are reading a novel set in the late 1800s, it doesn’t feel like it is that old. Reading this book brought back memories of wandering the alleys of Rethymno and Iraklio in the summers of my youth. In fact I’ve visited many of the places mentioned in the book.

The language he uses is authentic. I can hear my yiayia and papou speaking the Greek phrases he uses. I read the English translation of this book, but now would really love to go back and read parts of this book in Greek.

““I don’t care if they kill you, only if Crete is smashed.”” ““Idiot, it won’t be smashed, have no fear. We men are smashed, but not Crete, the immortal…””

When first reading this book, it feels like there are a lot of characters (there are!), and not much is happening (there isn’t!), but it all slowly builds to a boil. If you didn’t know so much about the daily life of the Greeks in Megalokastro, why would you care about them later?

Crete herself is an important character in this story. She is to be protected, honoured, and to die for! Cretans are fiercely patriotic to their land. It’s all about horafia with olive trees in Crete.

He loved Crete like a living, warm creature with a speaking mouth and weeping eyes; a Crete that consisted not of rocks and clods and roots, but of thousands of forefathers and foremothers who never died and who gathered, every Sunday, in the churches. Again and again they were filled with wrath, and in their graves they unfolded a proud banner and rushed with it into the mountains. And on the banner the undying Mother, bowed over it for years, had embroidered with their black and grey and snow-white hair the three undying words; FREEDOM or DEATH

While reading, I was annoyed that the key call to arms in this story was ““Freedom or death!”” but the title of the book is ““Freedom or death!"”. Keep reading, my friend, and you will be enlightened as I was near the end of the book.

Where am I going? Where am I being taken?…We live haphazard, we die haphazard, rudderless, with sails bellying. A wind blows. Where it blows, there we go. Water rushes into our ship, and the pumps are rusty…That’s human life, and you can yell as loud as you like.

What is this book about? It’s about Cretans rising up against their Turkish oppressors. It’s about life. It’s about death. It’s about honour. It’s about the palikare spirit. To understand Crete, is to understand the palikare spirit.

There are peoples and human beings who call to God with prayers and tears or a disciplined, reasonable self-control - or even curse Him. The Cretans called to Him with guns. They stood before God’s door and let off rifle shots to make Him hear. ““Insurrection!”” bellowed the Sultan, when he first heard the shooting, and in raving fury sent Pachas, soldiers, and gangs. ““Insolence!”” cried the Franks, and let loose their warships against the tiny barks that fought, braving death, between Europe, Asia and Africa. ““Be patient, be reasonable, don’t drag me into bloodshed!”” wailed Hellas, the beggar-mother, shuddering. ““Freedom or Death!”” answered the Cretans, and made a din before God’s door.

Trigger warning: there is lots and lots of bloodshed in this book and women are not treated very ‘nicely’. Remember that this book was written in the 1950s, and sadly attitudes towards women haven’t changed all that much in Crete in the present day.

Whoever receives freedom from foreign hands remains a slave. So it’s fire to the villages, the axe to the trees, the tramp of men at war, streams of tears and blood! And even if we fall with our skulls split, fresh men will stand up in our place.

Dictionary of terms

Circassian - (Russian: Черкесы Čerkes) are a people from the region in the North Caucasus.
Palikare - A “palikari’, or, “palikar”, is a young, Greek military man, who fought against the Ottomans (Turks) in the Greek Revolution, or, Greek War of Independence, 1821, a brave, valiant warrior, daring and courageous, one who never shies away from danger. More info…
Giaour - /ˈdʒaʊə/ noun-archaic-derogatory. a non-Muslim, especially a Christian.
Kastrian - Kastria (Greek: Καστρία) is a small village in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. It is part of the municipality Kalavryta.
Mastic - (Greek: Μαστίχα) is a resin obtained from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus). It is used as medicine and chewing gum. More info… Pacha

Places

Psiloritis - The mountain Psiloritis (Ψηλορείτης) also known as Mount Ida.
Kanea - The city of Xania (Χανιά).
Three Vaults - I couldn’t figure out where this is, but I think it is Neoria Vechi (Νεώρια Vechi) near the Old Ventian Habour.
Megalokastro - After the Byzantine reconquest of Crete, the city was locally known as Megalo Kastro (Μεγάλο Κάστρο, ‘Big Castle’ in Greek) and its inhabitants were called Kastrinoi (Καστρινοί, ““castle-dwellers”"). Now city is called Heraklieon/Iraklion.
Saint Menas Church - Saint Minas Church See of the Archbishop of Crete (Μητροπολιτικός Ναός Αγίου Μηνά)

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #38 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Sun, 19 May 2019 17:00:22 +0000

“Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is another intense, heart-wrenching historical fiction book a war in Africa. I seem to be reading a lot of these books lately. I guess I just need a good cry. Half of a Yellow Sun is about before and during the 1967-1970 Biafra-Nigerian Civil war. It’s one of those wars we have never heard about in the Western world because as it’s mentioned in the book, 100 black men dying are not as important as 1 one white man.

The book shifts back and forth between before the war, and to during the war. The main characters in the story are twin sisters in a wealthy Nigerian family, and the characters that hover in their middle-class to upper class circles. This book is difficult to read once the war starts. After reading this book, I felt like I had experienced something like being a part of this conflict, in my heart at least. If just reading about this war (though war seems to imply a match between evenly-matched militaries - which this wasn’t) is this painful, I can’t imagine how much worse it was for the people to live through this war.

You learn a lot about the experience of living through the late 60s, during the war, but the author doesn’t lecture you. If you want to experience the pain and suffering of the Biafran war, this book is for you. I just finished this book 30 minutes ago and I’m shaken up at the moment. The history of Africa has been bloody, and sadly mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. It is very sad.

I don’t want to leave you with the feeling that this book is just brutal to read, though at times it is, there is also incredible resilience and determination of the people to overcome all obstacles. Despite being cut off from Nigeria, people found ways to feed their families. People wanted to believe in a better future that would come from their independent country of Biafra. The ability for humans to hold out hope in the most hopeless situations is sometimes unbelievable. This book makes me want to hug all my family, call up everybody I know and pray to the God, or Gods and thank them for my health, food, and secure home.

I always believe that if a book makes you cry, that is one incredible book. This is one of those books. You may want to read the last 3 chapters alone if you have trouble keeping it together with emotional reads such as this.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #36 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#books #HistoricalFiction #BookReview #Africa “,

Taiwan Readers Meetup Group

Sun, 19 May 2019 15:17:13 +0000

“Taiwan Readers Meetup Group

Welcome to the group!

We are a group of readers living in Taiwan, expats and locals, who love to come together over coffee or a meal to discuss books, reading, and whatever else is on our minds.

We also talk about books on the LINE group. Anybody can suggest a time/place to meet and organize a meetup as there is no designated ‘leader’ of the group. The group meets around Taipei and New Taipei city about once a month.

Some people also use the meetings as an opportunity to trade, sell, or give books to each other. It’s best to discuss these exchanges, in private, before the meetup.

Rules of the Group

Please Do…

Introduce yourself!
Talk about books you’re reading!
Share book news!
Talk about book awards!
Show respect to all members.

Please Don’t…

Private message people!*
Spam the group
Discuss politics/religion (a little is OK!)

I created this book group to meet more people living in Taiwan who like books.

How to join the group?

Click this link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18537612-line-group-for-book-meetups-in-taipei
Post your LINE ID or email address, and then I’ll send you the invite link.
Join the group and introduce yourself!

We look forward to expanding our circle of bookish friends.

Useful Links

Taiwan Readers GoodReads Group Where to Buy Books in Taipei Taipei International Book Exhibition Big Bad Wolf Book Sale

* If you join the group and immediately bother people in private messages you will be deleted, blocked, and reported for sexual harassment immediately. This is your only warning. This type of behaviour is unwanted in this group. If you don’t know group members, do not start messaging them in private chats. Keep the conversation on the main group until you’ve met them in person. This isn’t Tinder. Thank you!

#TaiwanReaders #books #Taiwan”,

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

Wed, 15 May 2019 08:44:07 +0000

“Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

(Earthsea Cycle #4)

Seems I’m on an Earthsea kick at the moment eh? This is the 4th Earthsea novel and the 3rd one I’ve read back to back. I just started reading Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea #5) too. I will finish this whole series by the end of the month.

I can see why people say Earthsea #1-3 are sort of a mini-trilogy. The 1st book is learning about origin of Sparrowhawk/Hawk/Ged and how he gets his power. The 2nd book is about Tenar and her upbringing in the temple complex, and her eventual ‘meet up’ with Hawk. The 3rd book is about Tenar and Hawk getting together and the backstory of a new person, Therru, a girl that Tenar has adopted. Therru, her True Name being Tehanu of course, shows promise in Magic. The 3rd book ends just as it is revealed the true nature of Therru.

It’s hard to review Earthsea #1-3 because they sort of blend into one another. You will enjoy the books more if you read #1-3 together. I initially read #1 and then stopped for a long while. I didn’t want to get pulled into a long series at the time and I heard there were 6 books. Now I know that the books are excellent and very short reads actually.

How is Earthsea different than other Tolkienesque type of fantasy books?

There are dragons, but they speak and aren’t the unthinking killing machines they are usually portrayed as. There is almost no swordplay or large battles in Earthsea. Battles are of the mind, power against power, strong mages against evil forces of darkness. Earthsea focuses on a few characters and develops them, while other books might have many, many characters that we learn very little about.

Is Earthsea YA fiction?

I see it referred to as that, but I’m not quite sure.

Young characters ✔
Young characters growing up and developing as people ✔
Love between the young characters ✖ I wouldn’t say it’s YA fiction, but young adults will enjoy this. Heck, even old adults will enjoy this!

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #35 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #fantasy #LeGuin #Earthsea #books”,

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mon, 13 May 2019 15:15:12 +0000

“The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

(Earthsea Cycle #3)

“I would not ask a sick man to run a race,” said Sparrowhawk, “nor lay a stone on an overburdened back.” It was not clear whether he spoke of himself or of the world at large. Always his answers were grudging, hard to understand. There, thought Arren, lay the very heart of wizardry: to hint at mighty meanings while saying nothing at all, and to make doing nothing at all seem the very crown of wisdom.”"

The Farthest Shore is the story of Ged, aka Sparrowhawk, and his quest to help rid the world of a new blight, the death of magic. He is aided by Prince Arren. The must travel to the ends of the Earth, deal with dragons, and find the source of the sickness. I’ve heard that this book is the end of Ged being the focus of the Earthsea books. This is great because he’s a rather dull character most of the time.

Currently I’m in the middle of Tehanu (Earthsea #4) and Ged plays a very minor role in the story.

““I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.”” - Arren

If you liked Earthsea #1 & 2 you’ll like this one. I enjoyed witnessing the transformation of both Ged and Arren through this book. One is an old, wise man who’s seen it all, near the end of his life and trying to find a way to make it all count, while the other is a young man, coming into his own power, and just starting to learn about the world. They make a great pair.

““This is. And thou art. There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.”

I really enjoy the author Epilogues at the end of each book. Le Guin explains the major themes of each book and what influenced her to write the story the way she did. She’s a beautiful writer and even the Epilogue is interesting and helps your process the book.

I shall be mighty sad when I finish the last book in this series.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #34 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#LeGuin #Earthsea #BookReview #books”,

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tue, 07 May 2019 10:45:36 +0000

“The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

(Earthsea Cycle #2)

I have a bit of a disdain for sequels and book series so I was neglecting reading Earthsea Cycle #2 for quite some time. I really enjoyed The Wizard of Earthsea. It was fantasy with wizards and dragons but with a story about a boy trying to make his way in the world. I really enjoyed it as a character based story, set in a world of magic.

The Tombs of Atuan continues in its focus on characters but this time we are with a girl Tenar. She ends up serving as the One Priestess at a temple complex. She has her duties there, and power over the others there but no freedom. Her life changes when she meets a foreigner from outside the temple. I won’t say more because I don’t want to spoil this book.

This is a sequel to Earthsea Cycle #1 but it has different characters, so it feels fresh. It expands the Earthsea world and shows us the perspective of a woman in the religious system. I really enjoyed this book. I shall be quick to pickup Earthsea Cycle #3.

PS The books are short, but incredible, so the are a great way catch up on your reading goal if you have fallen behind as I have. I have been reading many very long books this year so this was a refreshing change of pace for me.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #33 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Earthsea #BookReview #books #fantasy #LeGuin”,

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

Tue, 07 May 2019 10:37:39 +0000

Quaint little coming of age story of a girl in Antigua. There isn’t too much to say about this story. It’s not that gripping actually. It ain’t boring either, but just not very exciting. I’m not sure why I bought it from the used book store. I read it because I ran out of books to read at my school and found this on my shelf.

Rating: ★★

Book #32 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

Yunohost Installation Guide and Tips

Mon, 06 May 2019 10:44:19 +0000

“A guide for installation on a regular computer to supplement the official installation guide. I’ve installed #YunoHost a few times on different machines so just thought I’d make a checklist of things you should consider, or decide upon before you go down the road of #SelfHosting.

Before Installing…

Read the basic installation guide
Explore the other documentation
What do you want to self-host? Look at the apps available. As a newbie, only consider installing apps Level 7 and above in the beginning. I would suggest starting with: Pi-hole, and Nextcloud.
Should you install Yunohost or Freedombox?
BIOS settings - set computer to auto-reboot on power failure, set USB drive as first boot device

Installation…

Domain name: You need to choose a dynamic domain name for your server: yourname.nohost.me yourname.noho.st, yourname.ynh.fr More info…
Hard Disk Setup: - Encrypted LVM? I would say no because you lose auto-reboot functionality on power failure. What partitions do you want to setup? Default is one big partition.

After Installing…

Follow the Post-Installation guide
Set static IP address: in router settings, or in Debian config at /etc/network/interfaces
Forward ports 80 (HTTP/admin page), 443 (HTTPS), 22 (SSH), 5222 (XMPP clients), 5269 (XMPP servers), 25, 587 (email SMTP), 993 (emaip IMAP) on your router to your YunoHost IP address
Update YunoHost through Admin UI > Tools > Upgrade
Install your apps!

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks

Fri, 03 May 2019 15:19:45 +0000

“Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks Culture Series #3

What a book! Be warned though, if you dislike non-linear books, run away very quickly and don’t look back. Otherwise, keep reading about one of the most intricate, and satisfying Culture books I have read thus far.

The Culture Series is set in the future where there is a super huge civilization called The Culture that has eliminated money, have super smart AI (Minds) controlling big ships and most of the large decisions in their society. Humans are free to relax and pursue their interests. The series has 10 books in it. They are all in the same universe but do not need to be read in order. I read The Player of Games (#2) first, then read Consider Phlebas (#1), and then finally Use of Weapons.

Of course, this ‘perfect’ society Culture doesn’t get it’s hands dirty that often but they do work behind the scenes trying to bring their values to other planets and clusters. This book is about one of the agents they’ve employed from outside their society to be their agent of change, Cheradenine Zakalwe (Don’t you love the names in the Culture universe?).

The novel has two narrative streams, one moving forward in the present, and one moving backwards towards a major event in Zakalwe’s life. This can get confusing at time but it does come together when you finish the book. This book rewards the patient, careful reader. This is not a beach read! This is a book you curl up with on the couch in silence as you digest this complex book.

Have you read any any of The Culture series? I would suggest you do, but this might be a difficult entry into the world. I would suggest reading The Player of Games or Consider Phlebas first.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #31 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#Books #BookReview #TheCulture #scifi”,

Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 11:37:57 +0000

“Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction I knew Tor.com from the Murderbot stories and reading their blog occasionally. The only authors I knew before reading this anthology were Ken Liu, the author of a short story that the movie Arrivial is based, and Yoon Ha Lee, the author of Ninefox Gambit. I count this as a positive thing. I was exposed to 38 more authors I would’ve never found before picking up this book.

I am really into sci-fi but haven’t read many fantasy books. It was good to read some amazing fantasy stories. There is no theme to this whole anthology but just good quality stories.

At the end of each story there is a few sentence bio about the author that highlights some of the awards they’ve gotten, and their most popular books they’ve written. I plan to go back to the end of each short story and seek out more books by the authors in this anthology. I especially will seek out books by the fantasy authors. I’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi lately but was really taken in by some of the great fantasy stories in here.

Don’t be fooled by the term ‘short fiction’ in the title of this book, some of these stories are like little novellas. They suck you deep into a world and when you finish reading it feels like you’ve just come up from reading a 500 page novel. It’s amazing how some authors can use so few words create fantastic worlds.

Sci-fi and fantasy seem like they are solid, easy to understand genres but I found myself wondering what do these genre’s even mean. With some of these stories, I would be hard pressed to put them neatly into one of these genres.

If you’re looking to be immersed in some exciting new worlds, pick up this very long book by Tor.com.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #30 in My 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #books”,

Yunohost & Freedombox

Sat, 27 Apr 2019 13:26:31 +0000

Self-hosting Made Easy(er)",“You may have heard of the projects, Yunohost and Freedombox. They both aim to make it easier for regular humans to self-host services on their own computers or SBC (Single Board Computers) for themselves, their friends or family.

I was motivated to write this post because of all the reviews of Freedombox I’ve seen on the web lately. I haven’t seen even one review of Yunohost out there, and I think that’s tragic because it is a great self-hosting alternative as well.

Why self-host?

That’s a big question and outside the scope of this comparison of Yunohost and Freedombox, but remember ““There is no cloud, only someone else’s computer.””

If you truly want to take control of your own data and minimize being tracked by large corporations (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft), then self-hosting might be something you might want to consider.

My Experience and Current Setup with Yunohost & Freedombox

I’ve been running Yunohost for about 6 months in my home. I am running it on regular desktop computer.

Services/Apps I use on my Yunohost: ad blocking (Pi-Hole), storing files and syncing them to my computers (Nextcloud), calendar & contacts (Nextcloud), blogging (WriteFreely), downloading Bittorrent files (Transmission), RSS reader (TinyTiny RSS Reader), and search engine (Searx). I’ve tried some other apps on Yunohost but these are the ones I use on a daily basis. I have gone through the installation more than once because of a lost password (doh!), and trying it out on other computers.

At my workplace, I don’t have access to an external IP or the router, so I run Freedombox. I use a Tor Onion service on it so I can access it. I haven’t done too much with it so far. This is my 2nd install of Freedombox in the process of testing it.

Installation

Yunohost: download ISO > install ISO > configure in Admin panel. During the setup process you will be asked to make a NAME.nohost.me dynamic domain. It will configure auto updating your IP address to this domain name too. This is great for those who haven’t bought a domain name!

Freedombox: install Debian > install Freedombox package > configure in Admin panel

Both are very easy to install. After installing them, then you need to configure your router to open ports so you can access your server from outside your local network.

User Interface (UI) / Admin Control

Yunohost is a beautiful interface. The user sees boxes setup like a periodic table when logged in. Each box is has a 2 character designation for the app. For Pihole it says Pi and pihole in small font below the box. The admin interface is well organized and easy for newbies to navigate. It tries not to use technical jargon when it’s not needed.

Freedombox seems to be designed for a system admin. The organization of menus is strange. When I click a menu item, I have to scroll down a few pages to get to the page I clicked on. Menu titles are program name, or sysadmin terms for example Monkeysphere(?), and Page Kite.

Available Apps

Yunohost has 24 ‘official apps’ and 90+ other apps. Yunohost has it’s own packaging format, so somebody has to ‘package’ an existing app to integrate into the UI. Here’s the list of available apps that Yunohost has right now.

Freedombox has 22 apps. That’s it. Also a lot of the ‘apps’ they have are more like services like Tor. These are things that are great for a sysadmin but they don’t have many apps that can be used for regular users to stop using other Big Tech services.

Yunohost has a clear advantage in app selection. Freedombox seems to be focused on being like a router on your network for security and privacy. Of course, both of these are running on Debian so you can add any apps you want but the advantage of having the app available through the UI is that it’s easier for newbies to install and also then keep all the settings for installed apps in one easy to find place, the admin UI.

Use Cases

Yunohost can be used at the family and friends level. Want to stop using Google Drive? Install Nextcloud. Want to use XMPP? It’s built in! Want to block ads on your network? Install Pi-hole. It’s very easy to replace proprietary tech with self-hosted options on Yunohost due to the wide range of apps available.

Freedombox seems to for a few specialized use cases. Is internet censored in your country? Install Tor, make a relay, and make an onion service. This is very easy to do in Freedombox. It is the one feature I am envious of. Want to block ads? You could install Privoxy but it is a proxy, not DNS level blocker like Pi-hole. Is the internet censored in your country? You could use a ShadowSocks server that another Freedombox user has setup in another country.

As you can see the types of users both these systems are targeting is way different. Yunohost is targeted towards individuals with some computer knowledge, while Freedombox seems targeted towards people with lots of sysadmin experience and the desire to run privacy tools such as Tor, ShadowSocks or OpenVPN.

Support / Community

Yunohost has a very active forum. Posts can be made in English or French. https://forum.yunohost.org/

Freedombox also has a forum but it looks deserted. Maybe discussion is happening on IRC? or in GitHub? I’m not sure but many bloggers are writing blog posts about Freedombox at least. https://discuss.freedombox.org/

Which one should I use - Yunohost or Freedombox?

If you want to replace Big Tech services - use Yunohost!

If you want to run privacy services like Tor, Tor relay or bridge, and onion services - use Freedombox!

Personally though, I think if you’re really interested in Tor and other such services, you could just install Yunohost, and install Tor manually ““apt install tor””, and then learn how to configure it yourself. Yunohost has a quick guide on how to setup hidden services using Tor.

If you have any questions or suggestions to add to this post, please message me on Mastodon: @tootbrute@scholar.social

Update: Feedback from FreedomBox

The team at Freedombox has reached out to thank me for this feedback. They have started a discussion on their forum to discuss the points I brought up here to see how they can improve Freedombox.

Good on them for being open to criticism and striving to improve! Hope both products continue to improve and making self-hosting easier for everybody!

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 10:18:55 +0000

“A story about the end of the world with zombies, but not like your typical one. Humanity is all but gone, but there are some zombies that show signs of humanity. Some zombies have retained their ability to think and ‘feel’. Scientists and teachers are studying them to see if a cure can be made. Eventually they are on the run together and have to deal with complicated feelings towards the zombies with them. Are they human? Do we treat them as such?

If this sounds far heavier than it is, don’t worry it isn’t. This story is told from multiple perspectives in different chapters. It’s a great YA novel but still enjoyable for olds like me.

Rating: ★★★★ Book #29 in my 2019 Reading Challenge #books #BookReview”,

Unable to Follow Blog on Mastodon

Tue, 16 Apr 2019 10:40:03 +0000

https://discuss.write.as/t/unable-to-follow-blog/

this is a test post to see if it works again.

The 3 Stages of Self-Hosting

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 10:36:52 +0000

Research, testing, deploying of server for personal use.

I’ve setup a YunoHost server for my personal use. It’s on an extra computer I have running at home. I bought the arkadi.one domain name for it. I’m running the following services on it:

Nextcloud » replaces Dropbox
- Can also manage my Android contacts & calendars through CalDAV
- Many other apps can give it more capabilities
Pihole - Ad blocking on my home network
Tiny Tiny RSS Reader - follow RSS Feeds
WriteFreely - lite blogging
Transmission - download Bittorrent files
MiniDLNA - play movies on Roku
Searx » replaces Google for search

Offering services on your server to family & friends.

Email - Unfortunately can’t offer email because my ISP blocks port 25
WriteFreely - Still not a 1.0 product. Cannot easily make accounts for people.
Currently can offer: Nextcloud, Searx, and Tiny Tiny RSS Reader
Future plans: would like to offer WriteFreely and email. Not sure what other services would be useful for my family. Maybe Friendica? PixelFed? Mastodon?

Teaching your family & friends to self-host.

I also name drop Yunohost to my techie friends when they ask

(currently transitioning from 1-2 but need to nail down backup system & how to ‘sell’ it to my family)

From A Low and Quiet Sea by Donal Ryan

Sun, 14 Apr 2019 21:36:11 +0000

4 interconnected stories of complicated lives that aren’t all that different than our own. I started the book and it was first about a refugee who made it to Ireland so I wrongly thought it was a ‘refugee’ story. It wasn’t, but it was very touching. I was getting near the end of the book and it wasn’t apparent how they were connected but then it beautifully came together. I had to hold back some tears as I finished this book in a coffee shop.

… If you say something enough times, the repetition of it makes it true. Any notion you like, no matter how mad it seems, can be a fact’s chrysalis. Once your say it loud enough and often enough it becomes debatable. Debates change minds. Debate is the larval stage of truth. Constant, unflagging, loud repetition completes your notion’s metamorphosis into fact. The fact takes wing and flutters from place to place and mind to mind and makes a living, permanent thing of itself.

Rating: ★★★★★

Book #28 in my 2019 Reading Challenge

Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:23:27 +0000

“I love these historical novels that Miller writes using Greek mythology. I previously read Circe before this one. Song of Achilles is about the Greek hero Achilles and his relationship with his friend Patroclus.

The two boys grapple with their complicated feelings for each other while growing up. Achilles is a God and how can he be in love with a disgraced prince such as Patroclus? Of course the Trojan war figures into this story too, but the major thrust of the book centers on Achilles relationship with his mother, a sea-goddess, who dislikes Patroclus, Achilles feelings towards Patroclus and how he needs to balance it with his own quest for ‘fame’.

A warning to readers, that there is gay sex in the book, but it is handled very poetically and not in a graphic or gratuitous manner. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is very sweet. She artfully shows the boy’s thoughts using italicized text. It really captures how people often talk, but think a completely different thing. I guess this book could also sort of fit in the YA category as it fulfills most of the requirements: relationships, teenagers growing up grappling with falling in love, and I enjoyed this book and Circe as well. I hope she continues to find more books that can delight new readers with the wonders of Greek mythology.

Rating: ★★★★★ Book #27 in my 2019 Reading Challenge #books #BookReview”,

Where To Buy Books in Taipei

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 09:45:59 +0000

“These are the places I like to buy new, and used books in Taipei.

Mollie Used Books 茉莉二手書店

http://www.mollie.com.tw Gongguan store 中正區羅斯福路四段40巷2號 Shida store 大安區和平東路一段222號

Smaller selection of English books, but higher quality titles
Books generally ‘newer’ and in better condition than books at WHOSE Books
15% off sticker price for members
Very nice price stickers that peel-off without leaving residue!

WHOSE Books 胡思二手書

http://whosebooks.myweb.hinet.net/ Gongguan store 中正區羅斯福路三段308-1號 Shilin store 士林區中正路235巷44號

Tend to find older books here.
Prices slightly cheaper than Mollie’s
Terrible price stickers that are very, very difficult to take off!

台灣e店

http://www.taiouan.com.tw 106台北市新生南路三段76巷6號1樓 (02)23625799 open 10:30-21:00 everyday

Specializes in books about Taiwan.
They have books written in aboriginal languages.
Not large selection of English books and you have to hunt for them
Have t-shirts, post cards, and other cool stuff too
Some books from SMC Publishing for sale here

SMC Publishing Inc. 南天書局

http://www.smcbook.com.tw/ 羅斯福路三段283巷14弄14號1樓 open weekdays 08:00-18:00

Can buy books on their website!
Never been yet because they only open on weekdays :(

BookDepository.com

http://bookdepository.com

New English books way over priced at ESLITE and most bookshops in Taiwan so I buy from BookDepository
Free shipping!
Prices in TWD on the website.
Slow shipping (3-4 weeks)

BookXcess Online

https://www.bookxcessonline.com/

Started Big Bad Wolf Books sale
Based in Malaysia
Cheap shipping to Taiwan
Book prices $150-200 NT + shipping
Haven’t used yet!

#books #BookStores #BuyingBooks #tips #TaiwanReaders”,

Books 1-5 in 2019 Reading Challenge

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 16:02:52 +0000

Washington Black - Esi Edugyan

Rating: ★★★★★

Beautiful story of a man of science who rescues a slave and the story of their friendship over the years.

The Great Wall - John Man

Rating: ★★

This book was all over the place. It felt like a sort of travel book of the author traveling all throughout China visiting different parts of the wall. The pictures aren’t easy to match up to the chapters where he talks about that section of the wall. This feels like it’s written for a very beginner who isn’t really familiar with Chinese history. He tries to make lots of Jones but they come off as a bit racist to me. Chinese had tones, so that meant I said this instead of that, how cute. Reading this book I don’t get that the author is a serious historian. I enjoyed reading this book and did learn more about the wall but it feels a bit thrown together, and could use editing to make it now cohesive, and easier to follow. He went over lots of legends and myths associated with the wall. They were interesting but I wonder if he was struggling to find hard archeological, and historical information to put into the book. Nevertheless, it was an easy read and mostly enjoyed it.

Neuromancer - William Gibson

Rating: ★★★★

What a trip. This is such an influential book in the history of sci-fi that it’s pretty much required reading for those into the genre.

An Excess Male - Maggie Shen King

Rating: ★★★★

Very interesting look at what society might look like in future China with too many men. Very detailed look at one family looking to add a 3rd husband to their family.

Consider Phlebas - Iain M. Banks

Rating: ★★★★

Exciting story of a Changer in the middle of the Culture-Idrian war and his quest to find a lost Mind.

NOTE: now all my reviews for books this year are ‘liberated’ from Amazon’s GoodReads. Hurray!

Want by Cindy Pon

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 13:12:17 +0000

“A futuristic future where the rich have air filter suits so they don’t breathe in the noxious air, the you’s (the verb to have in Chinese), while the mei’s (the verb for without) choke and die on the air without suits and die in their early 40s. This YA series is set in Taipei so the setting really came alive for me as I live in Taiwan. I will definitely hold onto this book for my daughter to read when she grows up, if we last that long. This story is a good story about how climate change affects the rich and poor differently. It’s a fun story with a good message!

Rating: ★★★★. Book #26 in my 2019 Reading Challenge

#BookReview #YA #scifi”,

New URL For Arkadi Cloud

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 13:49:23 +0000

Blog URL is now: http://blog.arkadi.one

This post is to test that federation with Mastodon still works.

This blog should be able to be found on Mastodon at: @tootbrute@blog.arkadi.one

Books I Read in March 2019

Sat, 06 Apr 2019 14:54:44 +0000

Here’s a summary of the 3 wildly diverse books I read in March with my thoughts. I read one Chinese translated science fiction book, a YA fiction, and a heavy history about a genocide in a country in Africa.

Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation by Ken Liu.

Rating: ★★★★★. Book #23 in my 2019 Reading Challenge

Incredible collection of Chinese short sci-fi stories mostly translated by Ken Liu. This is a follow-up collection to Invisible Planets. Chinese scifi is the freshest stuff out there in my opinion and you absolutely should read this if you enjoy scifi.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Rating: ★★. Book #24 in my 2019 Reading Challenge

Interesting premise of the sister killing all of her boyfriends ‘accidentally’(?) but the characters are quite boring and predictable. Very light easy read though if you’re looking for something to read on a lazy day in the park or on the beach.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch

Rating: ★★★★★. Book #25 in my 2019 Reading Challenge

A haunting tale of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. It’s the type of history book that isn’t just a rundown of facts, and dates when things happened, but rather a book with the context, historical background, and personal stories of the complicated situation from those who were actually there. Often history books distill major events like this into neat little causal statements, because of A, B happened. This is almost never true. I came into this book knowing nothing about this country or the genocide but came out with a much clearer idea of what happened and the context behind it. Incredible history book! This book’s style reminded me of the book, Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich or Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States.

PS I’m happy to report I am on track to read 100 books this year! I love challenging myself to read more books. You should do it too!

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 10:28:35 +0000

“I’m not sure what to think of this novel. I’m a bit puzzled with the ending. It certainly had a great opening and was building momentum for awhile but then the other seems to have lost the plot. The ending is very odd.

Book description from GoodReads:

In a park in London, secret policeman Gabriel Syme strikes up a conversation with an anarchist. Sworn to do his duty, Syme uses his new acquaintance to go undercover in Europe’s Central Anarchist Council and infiltrate their deadly mission, even managing to have himself voted to the position of ‘Thursday’. When Syme discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, however, he starts to question his role in their operations. And as a desperate chase across Europe begins, his confusion grows, as well as his confidence in his ability to outwit his enemies. But he has still to face the greatest terror that the Council has: a man named Sunday, whose true nature is worse than Syme could ever have imagined …

It certainly sounds riveting, doesn’t it? I enjoyed reading it but after about the mid-point I was beginning to lose interest. There were one too many ridiculous plot twists. I had to finish it because I dislike giving up on books but this one will be quickly forgotten in my mind.

My Rating: ★★ (Meh!) My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #22

#BookReview #Fiction”,

A New Illustrated History of Taiwan by Wan-yao Chou

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:32:44 +0000

This is a beautifully illustrated, clear, concise overview of the tumultuous history the country of Taiwan has experienced. Don’t be scared off by the page length of 469 pages as you will be delighted to know that almost every page has a photo on it. The photos are well chosen and give you an anchorpoint for the history you are reading about. It makes the history come alive on the pages.

I wish this book went into greater detail into the period of time from the 1960s to present day but it provides a great high level view of the important ‘stuff’. This book is expansive in other ways though; it goes as far back as prehistoric times. It also does a good job with detailing colonial times (the Dutch, Japanese time periods). I was truly saddened when I finished this book but have lots more books I’ve bought from the publisher SMC sitting on my shelf so I better get to it.

NOTE: I used to recommend Island In The Stream: A Quick Case Study Of Taiwan’s Complex History to those looking for a well-rounded Taiwanese history book but I believe I’ll change my recommendation to this one. Island in the Stream is a very basic outline of Taiwan’s history. It’s only 86 pages long though so it makes it an easy one for beginners learning about Taiwanese history.

I can’t wait until my daughter grows up and we can discuss Taiwanese history together over tea. She will have her experience of history as a native, and from the public school system while I have my understanding as an outsider and from books.

ISBN13: 9789576387845 Pages: 469 Buy from the publisher

My Rating: ★★★★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #21

The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 10:45:20 +0000

“I thought I was getting into a sci-fi short story about the ability to look back into time, I didn’t realize the story was actually about who owns history - historians, or the people who were affected by it? should we go back to analyze history or just move on? forgive and forget? This was a much more satisfying, thought-provoking and gruesome story than I could’ve imagined.

This story written as a documentary screenplay. It jumps from different narrators, and describes the ‘images’ that would be playing if it were actually a movie. There is a technological breakthrough where humans can use a machine to see back in time. Through this device, we can experience the past but in doing so it is forever erased so that no other person can experience that same time in the past again. There is also no way to record these time traveling experiences other than through a human retelling the story. The time period that grips the protagonists is Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese military. This unit was based in current-day Harbin, China. During WWII, this group of soldiers and doctors performed awful experiments on the Chinese men & women there.

The documentary comes at this story from many angles: the scientists who invented this device, the re-telling of the terrible things that happened at unit 731 by those who ‘traveled back in time’ and by Japanese soldiers who worked there, the United Nations discussion about this new technology, law professors on the legality of who owns history, and historians on the value of this discovering of our past.

It is such an amazing story. It teaches you about a period in history that almost no ‘Westerners’ are aware of and makes you think, should we go back and demand reparations for the sins of our fathers? should we forget? Why did the USA go so light on Japan’s wartime sins compared to how Nazi Germany was treated?

I will be thinking about this story for days. I will have to research this time period in more detail now. This is what literature should strive to do: teach, and let you experience other people’s feelings.

My Rating: ★★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #20

#Fiction #HistoricalFiction #ShortStory #Scifi #BookReview”,

Taiwan: The Search for Identity 探索台灣自我認同 by Jerome F. Keating

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 10:20:09 +0000

“Another book for the tireless Taiwan-advocate, Mr. Keating. This book is a collection of essays that are supposedly about Taiwan’s ‘identity’ but seem more of a hodgepodge of topics to me. I was greatly underwhelmed with this book, although it did have some very funny illustrations.

Mr. Keating has written other great books that are worth a look though, such as: Island In The Stream: A Quick Case Study Of Taiwan’s Complex History (excellent starting point for Taiwanese history!) and The Mapping of Taiwan: Desired Economies, Coveted Geographies (for those who like historical maps).

Extreme Sinophiles, or those who will read any book about Taiwanese history and politics will read this, but for others there are much better books available for you.

My Rating: ★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #19

#BookReview #Taiwan #History #NonFiction”,

The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 08:56:24 +0000

“I really enjoyed this simple story of an old man struggling against nature, himself, and of course a large fish. It’s about luck, determination, and the fickle nature of life. It is a very fast read. It reads like a fable in the same way that The Alchemist does. I have saved this book on my shelf for my daughter when she grows up.

My Rating: ★★★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #18

Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People who Think Different - Steve Silberman

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 08:52:23 +0000

“For such an all-encompassing book title, I don’t think I learned very much about how to actually deal with people with autism. I did learn the very interesting history of ‘autism’ and how we arrived at this diagnosis. I didn’t realize this book would be 90% history and only 10% of how autistic people have organized organizations to help themselves and advocate for funding/services. This book wasn’t what I expected but it was very interesting.

CW: Please note the chapter about Dr. Asperger does mention Nazi’s…a lot. Some may want to skip that chapter.

My Rating: ★★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #17

#autism #BookReview #NonFiction”,

The End of Trust (McSweeney's 54)

Sat, 09 Mar 2019 08:36:30 +0000

“This is a non-fiction magazine put out with McSweeney’s in collaboration with the EFF. It has essays, and interviews about privacy, and security threats we all face in our lives.

Very US-centric. Talks about how POC are most affected by these surveillance technologies. It would’ve been nice to have a more global perspective in the essays even though I guess they largest surveillance capitalist
Throughout there are short pieces on technology that law enforcement agencies use, the legal rules of their use in different US states, and how they are threats to our security.
Signal app is mentioned in about 5 of the articles. It’s a great messaging app but feels strange they all keep pushing the same one. I guess because it’s sponsored by EFF. It felt a bit like advertising at times.
Wish the articles went deeper. I recently read The Age of Surveillance Capitalism recently so this may have coloured my experience of this collection of essays. I’ve been reading about security, and privacy issues in-depth for the past year so this collection didn’t feel it was geared towards the ‘expert’. This is good for the average reader who doesn’t read so much about these topics on their own.
No epub! Hard to complain about a free magazine, but it was a real bummer to have to read this on my ereader as a PDF. The text was really small too. It is difficult to convert because there are multi-column articles, and lots of pictures and graphs.

Download the PDF here for free. CC licence. https://www.eff.org/the-end-of-trust

My Rating: ★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #16

#privacy #security #BookReview #tech #NonFiction”,

Mastodon Links

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 15:06:28 +0000

Mastodon Tutorials, Apps, Web Clients, Tools, Services, and News

You may have heard about Mastodon from some of your friends. What is it exactly? Here are some good links for those wanting to find out more, tutorials for those just starting out on the fediverse, and links to useful apps and tools.

Mastodon Official Page

NOTE: The ‘Fediverse’ is alls the services that can talk to others using the ActivityPub protocol (Mastodon, Friendica, Misskey, Pleorama, GNUSocial, etc)

Tutorials & How Tos

2019/03/05 You Should Not Ignore the Mastodon Social Network Any More 2019/01/04 An Increasingly Less-Brief Guide to Mastodon 2018/09/05 What is Mastodon and why should I use it?

2018/04/29 Mastodon Post Privacy - Who can see your posts 2018/04/08 How does Mastodon work? 2017/10/23 What is Mastodon and why is it better than Twitter 2017/08/28 The Importance of Choosing the Correct Mastodon Instance 2017/06/11 Toot How-To : Intro to Mastodon 2017/04/09 A complete Sloth’s Guide to Mastodon Cage the Mastodon - Overview of abuse and harassment tools

Fediverse Party - Fediverse overview Mastodon - Wikipedia page

Apps

Fedilab - Android Tootle - Linux Tusky - Android Whalebird Desktop - Windows, Mac, Linux List of Mastodon Apps

Web Clients

Brutaldon Halycon Pinafore

Services, Tools and Etc

Trunk - Find people to follow with an opt-in directory of people on Mastodon organized by topic Forget - Auto delete old Mastodon posts Fediverse Network - Fediverse statistics

News & Blog Posts

2019/03/13 How To Get Started on Mastodon and Leave Twitter Behind 2018/11/10 Why Mastodon is defying the “critical mass” 2018/08/22 Tired of Nazis in Your Twitter Mentions? Try Mastodon. 2018/08/22 A Beginner’s Guide to Mastodon 2018/08/19 Tired of Twitter? Join Me on Mastodon 2017/04/07 A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the hot new open-source Twitter clone 2017/04/05 Mastodon Is Like Twitter Without Nazis, So Why Are We Not Using It?

Building software together with Git

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 13:02:36 +0000

If you’ve wondered what GitHub is and all the lingo that goes along with Open Source development: pull, merge, fork etc. Here is a good guide written by Eliot Berriot for non-programmers.

https://pad.funkwhale.audio/s/rJAeAstL4#

[copy of this page stored here for posterity, please visit the link for the most up-to-date version]

Building software together with Git

There are not many resources available out there that introduce Git, GitHub, versioning, forks, pull requests and other development-related jargon to non-technical audience. This post is an attempt to help with that.

How do we collaborate on software?

Like most projects, successful software projects work best when multiple people can work on different tasks in parallel. In a typical organization, you expect accountants, managers, secretaries, sales folks, and in fact everyone to work on their own tasks, seamlessly, at the same time.

You want, as much as possible, to avoid situations when someone needs to wait for someone else to proceed. We call those situations bottlenecks. A typical bottleneck would be having a single phone in a 100-people company: everyone have to wait to make a call, which is a waste of time.

Software development work in the same way: developers, designers, translators, and pretty much everyone want to work without worrying about each other tasks, especially as project grows and attract dozens or even hundreds of contributors.

In order to deal with that, people involved in software development usually rely on a few tools and processes I will describe below.

What is software?

What we call software, in its most common form, is just a set of text files, also known as a codebase. Those text files contains instructions than can be executed by computers. Yes, the act of programming is just about writing stuff.

Of course, a a programmer, you have to think about what you are writing, like a storywriter ;)

If you’ve ever worked on on thesis, or any long-form textual essay, you faced a lot of the issues developers encounter when they need to collaborate on the same piece of software.

When you’re in the process of writing an essay, quite often, you’ll need:

Reviewing: you want someone else to read your work, and possibly suggest or edit it
Collaboration: you want someone else to work on a section of the documentation, while you’re also working on another one
Versioning: the ability to go back to a previous version of the document (e.g. because you deleted something by mistake)

You can achieve reviewing and collaboration that by sending email copies of your working version to other people involved, then integrating their changes in your own copy, regularly, via copy pasting.

For versioning, “redo/undo” features of your text editor can help, and also copying your document on a separate medium from time to time.

However, if you’ve worked with more than one or two people on the same document, you now, this is absolutely awful to manage, and very error prone. Did you send the latest versions to your friends? Have you integrated all their suggestions? How do you go back to yesterday’s version of your work when your last copy was made last week?

Software development is exactly the same. But usually with more people involved ;)

Introducing Git

As its core, Git and associated tools like GitHub are an attempt to solve the issues I described in the previous section.

Git allows people to contribute on the same codebase in a sane and efficient way. However, to do so, it completely rethink the way we should collaborate and introduce new concepts. All of this sounds like jargon to newcomers and is frankly overwhelming, so I’ll try to demystifies this a bit.

Commits and Versioning

At its core, Git provides a mechanism to version a codebase.

Each version of the codebase is basically a snapshot of the codebase, associated with the snapshot date. This gives you versioning, because you can go back in time, to any previous snapshot.

Those snapshots are named commits.

However, doing a full copy of the project with each commit would require a lot of space. Git is a bit smarter than that, and it will only store the differences (called diffs) between each commit.

Let’s take a concrete example:

Alice starts her software project, she create a text file with 10 lines, and creates the first commit
3 days later, she makes a change on line 7 and create another commit. The commit will store the fact that line 7 was edited.
5 days later, she deletes line 3 and creates another commit. The commit will only store the fact that a line was deleted.

All those commits create a log, or history of what happened in the project:

Day 1: Alice added 10 lines
Day 4: Alice edited line 7
Day 9: Alice removed line 3

And if we want to go back to day 1, we can tell git to undo the changes from day 9 and day 4, in that order, and we’ll obtain the codebase like it was on the first day. Then we can replay the next commit, the one from day 4, to go to the next version of the project, then replay the commit from day 9 to obtain our latest version.

You may remember I mentioned three desirable features: versioning, collaboration and reviewing. Commits bring us versioning, and also auditability: who did what, and when, which is a nice bonus.

Branches and parallelization

On day 10, Alice decides she want to experiment with something new, but she’s not 100% sure this will work.

To start hacking on her idea, she creates what git calls a branch. You can think of branches as roads, splitting off another one. Eventually, two roads can join, but that’s not mandatory.

In git, all commits happened on a branch, the default one is usually named the master branch. So if we represent the current state of the project with that in mind, this is how it could look like:

| master branch |

Commit from day 1: Alice added 10 lines |
Commit from day 4: Alice edited line 7 |
Commit from day 9: Alice removed line 3

So, Alice starts this new branch, named experiment from the branch master branch. The projects now looks like that:

| master branch |

Commit from day 1: Alice added 10 lines |
Commit from day 4: Alice edited line 7 |
Commit from day 9: Alice removed line 3 | |\n| \n| | experiment branch

The master branch still exists, on the left, but Alice is now working on the experiment branch, on the right.

She’s very productive, and makes a few commits on that branch:

| master branch |

Commit from day 1: Alice added 10 lines |
Commit from day 4: Alice edited line 7 |
Commit from day 9: Alice removed line 3 | |\n| \n| | experiment branch | | | * Commit from day 11: Alice added 10 new lines | | | * Commit from day 13: Alice edited lines 5 to 9

Because she’s satisfied with the changes, she decides to merge the experiment branch into the master branch. This git’s way to apply changes from one branch to another. Remember the previous road analogy I used? This is how the merge would look like:

When the merge is done, the experiment branch is deleted, and all its commits are now present on the master branch:

| master branch |

Commit from day 1: Alice added 10 lines |
Commit from day 4: Alice edited line 7 |
Commit from day 9: Alice removed line 3 |
Commit from day 11: Alice added 10 new lines (from experiment branch) |
Commit from day 13: Alice edited lines 5 to 9 (from experiment branch)

If, for any reason, Alice wasn’t satisfied with her experiment, she could could have deleted it without merging it, and the master branch would have remain unaffected.

Branches are a powerful but also hard-to-grasp concept in git. They are useful to experiment without risk, but also to enable cooperation, as we’ll see in the next section.

Repositories and collaboration

In the previous scenario, Alice was alone. But on day 14, her friend Bob wants to help her with this new project. How can he achieve that with git?

When Alice started to work on the project, she was using her local copy, what we call a repository. You can think of a repository as a workspace, belonging to someone (Alice, in this case).

Since Bob wants to start contributing, he will need his own repository. One way to do that is for Alice to push her repository on a platform like GitHub or GitLab, have Bob create an account here, and use the fork button.

Forking essentially means “creating a copy of someone else’s repository”.

When Bob forks Alice repository, he ends up with an exact copy of her repository. It’s git’s equivalent of “sending your thesis by email to a friend”.

So, Bob has a working repository, and starts adding some commits on the master branch:

| Bob’s workspace / master branch | | (previous commits omitted) |

Commit from day 11: Alice added 10 new lines (from experiment branch) |
Commit from day 13: Alice edited lines 5 to 9 (from experiment branch) |
Commit from day 14: Bob edited lines 8 |
Commit from day 15: Bob deleted line 12 |

Bob added two commits on day 14 and 15. He’d like this to be included in Alice’s repository. One way to do that using platforms like GitHub or GitLab is to create a pull request (named merge request in GitLab, but those are the same thing).

Do you remember when Alice merged her experiment branch in her master branch in the previous section? Well a pull request is essentially asking someone to merge a branch from your repository, into a branch of their repository.

So, Bob creates the Pull Request:

Hello Alice! I’d like to merge the branch master from my repository into the master branch of your repository I’ve added one commit that fixes a typo, and one commit that improve the performance. Let me know if you have any questions, Bob

When Alice receives that pull request, she’ll be able to review Bob’s commits, and decide whether she is fine with those. That’s what we call a code review.

During the code review, Alice will read the changes introduces by Bob’s commit, suggest some changes, and when she’s satisfied with the result, accept the Pull Request.

Accepting the pull request will merge Bob’s master branch into the master branch in her repository:

| Alice’s workspace / master branch | | (previous commits omitted) |

Commit from day 11: Alice added 10 new lines (from experiment branch) |
Commit from day 13: Alice edited lines 5 to 9 (from experiment branch) |
Commit from day 14: Bob edited lines 8 (from bob/master branch) |
Commit from day 15: Bob deleted line 12 (from bob/master branch) |

Of course, she also could have refused the pull request, in which case her master branch would have been left untouched.

Using branches, repositories and pull requests, Alice and Bob managed to collaborate on the same piece of software. How exciting!

Bonus: Issues and releases

If you’ve read until here, things should be less scary for you. However, there are a few things you may want to know about software development and the way we usually collaborate while working on software.

Issues

Issues are an important part of software development. You may have heard those sentences already: “Please file an issue” or “Please open a bug in our issue tracker”. But what is an issue?

Issues, also known as tickets, bug reports or feature requests are messages posted in a project’s issue tracker. Developers, contributors and software users usually open issues to:

Keep track of a new bug in the software
Suggest an improvement or a new feature
Ask a question about the software behaviour

Other people can usually comment issues, discuss about possible solutions and pitfalls, provide workarounds, etc.

When development is needed to address the issue or the feature request, a developer will usually create a branch, work on a fix, then submit a pull request with the changes. Once this pull request is accepted, the related issue is usually closed.

To sum it up, this is the typical life cycle of an issue:

Bob encounters a bug in the software
Bob opens an issue describing the bug
Maria, who is facing the same bug, adds a comment on the issue, and describes a possible solution
Alice decides to work on the issue
She assigns the issue to herself, creates a branch, commit the changes that fix the issues, and open a pull request with that branch
The pull request is merged into the master branch
Bob’s issue is closed

Issues are extremely useful, because the constitute the memory of a project, and also gives a lot of insight about future development, popular requests and common problems faced by a community.

On a daily basis, contributors working on a project tend to fix specific issues, which ensure they work on different problems and helps achieving parallelization.

Releases

Releases, also known as tags are the last missing piece of typical software development process.

Most projects tend to follow similar cycles:

Project maintainers/communities choose a set of issues they deem priority
Contributors fix those issues
Once all selected issues are fixed, a release is published
End users update to the new release
Back to 1.

A release is a version of a software that is distributed widely and intended to improve or replace previous releases.

Usually, releases are named using a specific pattern, like version 1.2.3, version 1.2.4 and version 1.3.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this essay, and the explanation gave you a clearer view of what’s going on in software development.

As developers, we tend to forget that we’re using obscure jargon that makes us look like occult wizards. There is some kind of elitism behind that, of course, but I think it also happens because software development is really a weird, strange field, with its own problematics and solutions.

It takes some effort to untangle everything and demonstrate the usefulness of all of this in a non-technical way. If you think I failed somewhere, or there is a missing piece, please let me know!

original source: https://pad.funkwhale.audio/s/rJAeAstL4#

A Dog's Heart by Mikhail Bulgakov

Sun, 03 Mar 2019 14:13:31 +0000

“What makes a man? A Russian scientist’s experiment goes wrong and he is left with a half-man, half-dog person who is quite a handful. This book was dangerous to the Soviet state when it was written in 1925 and wasn’t published until much later. It is a very entertaining story. The dog-man creation is a parody of the whole Soviet ““new man”” that is supposed to emerge under the Soviet system. This book also had an excellent introduction, and Extra Material section at the back where I learned more about Bulgakov and his life. His story is very interesting and sad.

My Rating: ★★★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #15

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Sun, 03 Mar 2019 14:02:27 +0000

A woman struggles to fit into ‘normal’ society while holding down the ‘lowly’ position of a convenience store worker. Society has clear expectations of good ‘career’ jobs and what’s young people are supposed to value, when you go against those norms you are looked on as broken or strange. This is a short read, but explores issues that many of us have: should we get married because that’s what society expects us to do? have kids too? should we be proud of our job if we enjoy it eventhough society looks down upon it? what makes us happy? should we care what others think? Despite exploring these issues, it does so in a humorous and straightforward manner. The topic and plot is interesting but I find the characters to be a bit rigid and stereotypical. This simplicity is also part of this book’s charm though.

My Rating: ★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #14

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 12:18:37 +0000

“A delightful, light surreal-fantasy story about a boy who has trouble with a ‘flea’ from another place. Luckily, there is a lovely family at the end of the lane that is very good at dealing with these varmint.

I enjoy Gaiman’s stories. Everything I have read of his is whimsical, and seems fun for young adults but interesting enough for adults to read as well. Other books I’ve read from Neil Gaiman are Coraline, Anansi Boys, Good Omens and Neverwhere. I haven’t read American Gods which is one of his very popular books. In general, I don’t like his adult books as much as I like his YA books.

My Rating: ★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #13

Board Games: Outfoxed! & Karuba

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 10:15:00 +0000

I am lucky to be able to teach an ESL board games class in my day-job. This gives me a budget to buy new games every year. I recently bought two awesome games, Outfoxed! and Karuba.

Outfoxed!

Description: A cooperative game where players work together to find clues, eliminate suspects, and capture the fox who has stolen the pie before he escapes down the fox hole.

Play Mechanics: Players roll 3 dice. 3 ‘eye’ icons let them reveal 2 more possible suspects. 3 dice with ‘paw prints’ lets the player walk to a clue space on the board. If player fails to get 3 of a kind on their 3 rolls, the fox piece moves 3 spaces towards the fox hole. There is a special decoder piece where players can put the ‘clue’, umbrella for example, and pull open a door to see if the thief is or isn’t holding an umbrella. Players eliminate suspects who fit the description. It’s a good game for younger kids as they have to use logic to figure out who can be eliminated or not.

How to Win: If players have eliminated all suspects except one, they have caught the fox. If the fox makes it to the fox hole on the board, all players lose.

Overall Experience: Very fun game to play with a family. It’s a co-op game so it’s neat to work together as a team to spread out on the board to get clues, and figure out which suspects to eliminate. To make the game harder, you can make the fox move 4 or 5 spaces on failed die roles. Sometimes the game feels too easy with the fox moving only 3 spaces but sometimes the difficulty is just right.

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172931/outfoxed Buy here: http://kangagames.com/outfoxedgw.html ($720 NT)

Karuba

Description: A group of explorers has arrived at a faraway land said to be rich with gold and other treasures. Players try to get their explorers to the temple of their corresponding colour to get the treasure. Players also try to collect some gold and crystals on the way.

Play Mechanics: Each player has a rectangular board with a beach on 2 sides, and jungle on the other 2. Players setup each of their boards with the explorers and temples in the same place. Each player has 36 jungle/path tiles. One player is designated the expedition leader and turns all their tiles over. The expedition leader picks up a tile and reads the number. Other players find that tile and place it anywhere they want on their board. On your turn, every player can either place the chosen tile on their board, or discard the tile. If you discard the tile, you may move an explorer from 2-4 places on the board. If they tile has a path touching 2 sides of the tile, you can move 2 places, if it’s touching 4 sides, then you can move your explorer 4 spaces.

How to Win: Get the best temple treasures (each treasure has temple treasures in value from 5-1 points), with the most gold (2 points) and crystals (1 point). The most total points wins.

Overall Experience: Although it sounds rather complicated, it’s actually quite easy to play. The longest part of the setup is arranging your tiles on the table. The strategy in this game is multi-layered; you have to decide where to place the different coloured explorers and temples at the beginning of the game and then decide when to build paths and when to move your explorers. The game requires you to balance different objectives: gathering treasure (not always possible to visit all temples), gather gold, and gather crystals. I enjoy these sort of games that look like simple tile-laying games but actually have some sophisticated strategy underneath. This game sort of reminds me of Carcassone or Cacao. I would recommend this game to my family and friends! I’m excited to play it again with some of my adult friends.

More information: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/183251/karuba

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the Frontier of Power

Sun, 24 Feb 2019 08:39:03 +0000

“Book Review

After putting this book down, it feels like the curtain has been pulled back and all of the background machinations of my magic technology have been revealed. I knew that companies were harvesting my data but I didn’t know the extent of the whole system. Surveillance capitalism is the shadow economy running over-top of our whole world without many of us even knowing about it. If you ever use a computer, the internet, or a smart phone you are a cog in this machine. Companies are using our interactions with technology as the raw behavioral data that is silently being collected, analyzed, repackaged, and then sold to 3rd parties. 3rd parties are very interested in these data predictions because they offer insight into our future actions, feelings, what we might buy, who we might vote for.

The book begins by first examining the history of surveillance capitalism. Where did this all start? It all started with Google. They made the amazing search engine Google. They used feedback from searches to improve their product. Soon they realized they (A) had to start making profit, (B) were harvesting a lot more data that they weren’t utilizing. Around this time 9/11 happened which changed the government’s attitude towards data collection of it’s citizens. It now wanted to know everything and nothing was sacred. The permission to let these companies become the informational arm of the government was all under the guise of ‘national security’.

… serving the genuine needs of people is less lucrative, and therefore less important, than selling predictions of their behavior. Google discovered that we are less valuable than others' bets on our future behavior. This changed everything.

This book analyzes the situation from all angles, using psychology, history, statistics, and economic theory to show what capitalism was, and how it evolved to become the more terrifying ‘surveillance capitalism’ monster.

“”…surveillance capitalism’s unusual products manage to be derived from our behavior while remaining indifferent to our behavior. Its products are about predicting us, without actually caring what we do or what is done to us.”"

Once Google started doing this, and profiting handsomely from it, then other companies started getting in on the action. Companies dreamed up new, inventive ways to harvest data to train their ‘machine intelligence’. To make these systems ‘smart’, they need to eat, lots, and lots of raw data.

The extraction imperative demands that everything be possessed. In this new context, goods and services are merely surveillance-bound supply routes. It’s not the car; it’s the behavioral data from driving the car. It’s not the map; it’s the behavioral data from interacting with the map.

Towards the end of the book it starts looking at how this is affecting our children. Generation Z is the first generation who is growing up without knowing what life was like before Google, and Facebook. They have to navigate a whole slew of different minefields than you or I had to while growing up. Adolescent

Legal scholar, Frank Pasquale on Google: ““The decisions at Googleplex are made behind closed doors…the power to include, exclude, and rank is the power to ensure which public impressions become permanent and which remain fleeting… Despite their claims of objectivity and neutrality, they are constantly making value-laden, controversial decisions. They help create the world they claim to merely ‘show’ us.””

I have already started the long and difficult road of trying to escape these companies who abuse our human dignity and try to squeeze money from it. It’s very hard to do it alone. We need democracies to start making data privacy laws to help the individual. The right to digital privacy needs to be enshrined as a human right. This is a societal problem. This is global. These companies slipped under the radar by offering us these convenient devices that seemed like magic. The only real magic at play was how easily we were duped by these corporations. They operate in the shadows and I’m so thankful for this incredibly detailed, and exciting book. I hope it throws more light onto the woeful state of things and opens a few more people’s eyes. There is hope for the future, if we can take back control of these machines, these corporations, and our human experience.

In 1981, the author once sat down with a young paper mill owner who asked:

Are we all going to be working for a smart machine, or will we have smart people around the machine?

Read this book. We owe it to ourselves, and to our children. This is a book of our times. Totalitarianism was the greatest threat to democracy in our parents' generation, now surveillance capitalism is ours.

My Rating: ★★★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #12

#bookReview #books #surveillanceCapitalism",

Kyung-Sook Shin and Han Kang: Korean Translated Fiction Worth Reading

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:12:29 +0000

“Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin Great book but sometimes difficult to tell who is speaking. Strong start but was a less intense ending. Worth reading. I can imagine it’s even more beautiful to read in Korean. Rating: ★★★★

I’ll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin

Her books always hit me hard. I lived in Seoul before so this book feels so real to me. This book is sad but also good. She is great at making stories that go slow, and slowly lift up the curtain in ways that surprise you. Like most of the books I’ve been reading lately, this one will bring you close to tears in the end. This book felt so real, I have a hard time believing that it’s not based on the author’s own experience of growing up in some way. This book captures the idealism, passion, and heartache of young lovers. This book will stay with me for a long while. Her book Please Look After Mom is also amazing. This book should have more than 4 stars. Come on people! Rating: ★★★★★

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

On the surface this book appears to be about a typical Korean family and a family member that decides to become a vegetarian. The situation quickly spirals out of control as the whole family is torn apart by this seemingly mundane decision. This story was very weird, and even erotic in parts. Worth a read! Rating: ★★★★

Human Acts by Han Kang

Her books always got you in the gut and this one is no different. You can’t forget the past, even if it’s difficult to remember. Reading this made me think about Taiwan’s 2-28 Massacre. These sorts of tragedies shape nations and souls. By reading this book, I hope I have brought a little honor and piece to those noble humans who were cut down way before their time. Rating: ★★★★★

#BookReview #KoreanLit #TranslatedFiction #books”,

3 Book Reviews of Fiction from the African Continent

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 11:22:56 +0000

“NOTE: I will slowly be liberating all my old reviews from GoodReads.com by posting them in groups like this.

Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

A bit heavy and dense near the middle bit a worthwhile read. A multi-generational story of a family from Canada and their kids. Ghana to America and back again as a family member’s death draws them back. This is intricate novel like Jonathan Franzen’s ““The Corrections”” but I felt I liked these characters more. Rating: ★★★★

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma

Rich, emotionally powerful story about a family with 5 boys and a little girl in the town of Akure, Nigeria. This story is so detailed I can see myself walking down the dirt road streets of Akure. I can smell the dirty river. I can see the boys playing football in the street. This family goes through many difficult times. You see the characters change as this story progresses. It is one of those stories that make you sad when it finishes. Hope to see more works from this new author in the future. Rating: ★★★★★

Happiness, Like Water by Chinelo Okparanta

These short stories were definitely not ““happy”” but they were certainly honest, stories of people (mostly immigrants) trying to find some happiness in the terrible situations they find themselves in. This book was mostly about female characters too. It was a great read and the characters in each story were so detailed. These were certainly inspired by real people and events. This was the 3rd novel by an African author I read this month. I really enjoyed this book but sadly all good things come to an end. Rating: ★★★★★

How do you read so much?

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 15:32:27 +0000

“I tell people I read about 75 to 100 novels a year and people are amazed. They always ask me how I read so much, but I tell them it’s really not that hard.

Read Everyday, Make it a Habit I always read at least once a day, and sometimes two times. I make time for reading. I put my phone on vibrate. I close my laptop. I look forward to these times. I read during my lunch hour and before bed. Find a time that works for you. You need to read everyday to keep up momentum in the story you’re reading. You need to do it everyday to make it a habit that’s as automatic as brushing your teeth.

Buy Books You Want to Read Treat yourself to a nice book or ebook that you want to read. A story you want to get immersed in. A non-fiction topic you want to learn more about.

That’s it. I was going to add a third point to make it look nicer but there’s not much more to say.

Helpful Tips

Watch less TV: If you’re struggling to find time to read, then you have to make time. Think about where you spend your time every week: How many hours do you watch TV? How many hours do you spend on Facebook? Look at those numbers. Are you happy with how you’re spending your time?

Example: I spend about 7-10 hours a week reading, vs. only 4 hours watching TV. You can tell that reading is a higher priority for me than watching TV by where I spend my time.

If you don’t like the book you’re reading, stop reading it! This isn’t a school assignment. You should be reading for enjoyment. Don’t get caught up in how many books you read, but rather how much you are enjoying the book you are reading.
Get comfortable: Setup your reading light. Get a hot drink and a cookie. Turn off your phone. Find a comfy chair and relax.
Don’t Get Distracted!: It’s easy to get distracted in the first 5 minutes of a task. Power through that 5 minute mark and you can go much farther. Set a timer for 15 minutes if you really need to go check your phone. The key is to read with 100% concentration for the first 5 minutes to get into a state of flow. If you keep starting and stopping your book, it’s hard to get immersed in it and follow what’s happening.”,

WriteFreely: self-hosted blogging platform

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 15:30:01 +0000

WriteFreely is a beautiful, clean, simple, self-hosted blogging platform

WriteFreely is built around writing. There’s no news feed, notifications, or unnecessary likes or claps to take you away from your train of thought. You get a distraction-free writing environment, and readers can enjoy a clean reading experience. –From https://writefreely.org/

*You can also sign up at Write.as ($6/M), or get an account on somebody else’s server running WriteFreely

Setup

Installing #WriteFreely as an app on Yunohost is very simple. I browse for the app on the admin interface, fill in a few options (allow registrations? make blog private or public?) and click go. Make sure you setup a Let’sEncrypt certificate for the domain name where you will be hosting the blog.

I opted for a public blog but have closed registrations. Currently there isn’t any option to have open registrations but for invited people only. I would love to help my family and friends host their blogs in the future if this option becomes available.

Blogging Experience

It’s very easy to open up WriteFreely, and type up a blog post. I don’t get bogged down with all the options other blogging platforms have: link colours, adding pictures, embedding videos etc. I can make drafts of important things I want to blog about and then publish them later. I enjoy the simple interface as there are fewer options to fiddle which which distract me from writing. If you do want to customize the look and feel of your blog you can do it through custom CSS. If you do love all those little things you can customize, and like complexity you will probably like WordPress better.

One of my favourite features of WriteFreely is it’s ability to automatically ‘federate’ with Mastodon. This means you can see comments to posts on Mastodon without dealing with installing/embedding a comments system onto your blog.

Backing up your posts is very simple. You can download all your blog posts in one of 4 formats: csv, zip, json, or ‘prettified’ json. You aren’t locked into any ‘format’ or platform. Your writing is yours to backup and take with you wherever you want.

Issues?

Can’t figure out how to change the avatar picture of my blog when it federates on #Mastodon.
Occasionally get a ‘failed to post’ error. Seems to be related to a bad cookie of an unfinished, or failed post. To get past it, I suggest opening WriteFreely in an incognito window, or clear your cookies, or see if there has been a WriteFreely update.

Smartphones that Respect your Privacy?

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 16:00:20 +0000

how to Degooglyfy your life #DeleteGoogle and avoid GAFAM

I’ve slowly been trying to get rid of the big 5 surveillance capitalists, GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), from my day-to-day life but it’s been hard.

Facebook: deleted! Apple: don’t own any Apple devices! Microsoft: I use linux! Amazon: don’t shop there nor use their devices! Google: Gmail -> Protonmail, Calendars/Contacts -> CalDAV/DavDroid/Nextcloud Android -> ???

The Problem

I’ve achieved much as but biggest hole in my privacy right now is on my Android phone I carry in my pocket all day. This phone has a wealth of information about me: my location, apps I use, things I type, people I call etc. At this point we know that Android is always tracking us, so I want to think of better solution that replaces the problem at a hardware/OS level.

Solutions?

Not long ago, I would’ve said there weren’t many good options out there other than rooting your phone and installing LineageOS. Of course, this is not easy on every phone (I personally failed in my quest to liberate my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5) and you have to be a bit of a techie to go this route.

The Options Available

Here are some of the exciting options that are coming out for those of us looking to escape the Android/Apple duopoly.

Sailfish OS by Jolla

Linux based/open source OS only!
compatible with Android apps
can only be installed on Sony Xperia phones
costs about 50 EUR for the OS
available now!

PinePhone by (Pine64)[https://www.pine64.org/]

Linux based/open source phone running KDE Plasma Mobile
costs about $100 USD
available starting Nov. 1, 2019

Necunos NC_1

Linux based small phone/tablet, but cannot make cellular calls!
can buy with choice of OS (Debian with Plasma Mobile, PostmarketOS with Plasma Mobile, Maemo Leste, Nemo Mobile, LuneOS) installed, or with no OS
costs 1199 EUR (first batch of 500 sold out for now!)
might morph into a fully featured phone in future versions

Librem5 by Purism

Linux based/open source running Pure OS
dialer and messaging powered by Matrix
user replaceable battery
costs $649 USD international shipping included (add links and descriptions)

LineageOS

Open-Source OS based on Android
support for a wide-range of phones
free!
very tricky to install on some phones

Ubuntu Touch (UBports)

open-source phone OS
doesn’t work on many phones

Car, Truck, Jeep by Katrina Charman

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 12:06:46 +0000

Car, Truck, Jeep by Katrina Charman (Author), Nick Sharratt (Illustrator)",“Book Review

Car, car, truck, jeep, have you any fuel? Yes, sir, yes, sir three tanks full.

One for the red bus, one for the train, and one for the pilot in her jumbo jet plane.`

This whole book is a playful re-imagining of Baa Baa Black Sheep. You read this book to the tune of the nursery rhyme. I bought this a few days ago for my daughter (5) and son (2) and haven’t been able to stop reading it to them. They keep selecting this book every night for me to read to them, and I am powerless to stop them.

This book is really fun to read and the illustrations are cute. I imagine it’s good for kids on the cusp of learning to read as they can memorize this book quite quickly and start to recognize some of the words too. I love having kids as I get to bring the joy of reading to them. I encourage all the parents of my students to read to their kids. It’s so much fun!

Book Information

Age Range: 2 - 5 years Board book: 26 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books (October 2, 2018) Language: English ISBN-10: 1681198959 ISBN-13: 978-1681198958 Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.5 x 5.9 inches

The Watermelon Boys by Ruqaya Izzidien

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 12:17:29 +0000

The present is an arrogant time in which to live, always has been. Humans of the present look back at their people, land, and history, and whisper to themselves with glee, We are not them. But we were always them. We are our history; we are the crimes of our ancestors. And we wait, mouths agape, to hear tales of hope, as though good could triumph in such a world. But every century, every desperate land, every present, has its own moment of optimism, an instant in which its people are so sure, just like their fathers before them, that something better is possible. They tell themselves that their souls are better now, more compassionate, more powerful. This time it will be different. (p. 1)

A powerful novel about wartime from 1915-1920 in Europe but mostly in the Middle East (Baghdad). The main character is Ahmad, a Baghdadi who comes back from fighting with the Ottomans. He comes back to his family but struggles with the urge to fight for his country. The other perspective is from a Welsh boy drawn into the conflict as a soldier in the British army.

The conflict in this novel is between colonizers and the colonized, and those caught in between. I wouldn’t say this has a happy ending, these stories rarely are but this book certainly makes you feel both sides of the conflict and the immense pain, and hardship the families face while empires duel for land, and power.

It’s a great historical novel about the great injustice inflicted upon the Middle East by the Western powers under the auspices of doing good for the people. The effects of which are still being felt today in the region. It is well researched and exciting to read.

I always love reading translated fiction because we get to hear other perspectives than those who usually write the history books. Historical fiction has the ability to transport you right to key moments in history and learn not facts, but feel the emotions of the common people which always seems to escape the notice of those tasked with writing the history books.

My Rating: ★★★★★ My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #11

Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 23:53:23 +0000

A book you must’ve heard about by now. I’ve watched some movies, and even some TV shows that are based on this book, or referenced ‘Frankenstein’ but have never read the original text.

I’m not sure why I picked up this book but maybe I was intrigued by the story behind the title ““Frankenstein: The 1818 Text””. There is an interesting story behind this which I won’t spoil because it’s explained so well in the introduction where you learn a lot about the author and the origins of this novel and the subsequent revisions made to this original text.

The story is quite different from what I imagined it might be like. The actual creation of the ‘monster’ or ‘creature’ is very vague. The novel is told through 3 different story tellers: first by the sea captain writing letters to someone about his experiences up North, then by Victor Frankenstein himself, who meets up with the sea captain, and in V. Frankenstein’s telling of his story it switches to the creature Frankenstein’s re-telling of his story, and then back again through the eyes of the sea captain. It actually sounds more complicated than it is when you read through it.

I enjoyed this novel and didn’t put it down very much over the few days it took for me to read this book. I can see why people like to read classics. It gives you an insight into the culture surrounding the book and your eyes are opened to how others riff off of and borrow so much from the classics.

An excellent read even though it’s over 200 years old! How many other novels that you’ve read would stand up so well after that long? I enjoyed reading this classic so much I shall seek other classics to read.

My Rating: ★★★★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #10

WriteFreely: Failed to Post Error.

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:46:02 +0000

“If you’re getting the following error

Failed to post. Please try again.

check to see if you are running the following add-ons in Firefox: uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and HTTPS Everywhere. If you are, read on.

To bypass this error, I opened a new private window, disabled the 3 add-ons and it miraculously worked.

Hope this helps somebody out there. I spent a long time searching for an answer before I stumbled on this solution.

#WriteFreely #troubleshooting”,

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 10:36:15 +0000

“The Forever war is a dark comedy sci-fi book about a very, very long, expensive war fought over thousands of years and one solder who is stuck in the middle of it. This book was very controversial in its time because it was about Vietnam. The historical significance about this book is wonderfully explained in the introduction. Although this book is about Vietnam, I still connected with this book because in our time the US is still fighting senseless, expensive, and unwinnable wars (Iraq, Afghanistan etc.) so the book still feels fresh.

One of the major themes in this book is aging, and how fast the world changes while you’re in the war. To get out the war zones the soldiers have to travel in a faster than light spaceship. For the soldiers it only feels like a few months have passed, but back at earth hundreds of years have passed. In other reviews I’ve read they call this ““time dilation””.

This book is less about war than about the soldier’s experience of war, the long time between battles, the ridiculous bureaucracy, and the disillusionment most soldiers feel being dumped into an unjust war. I really enjoyed the ending of the book. It was unexpected but a nice twist.

For fans of sci-fi, I would rank this as a must read book.

My Rating: ★★★★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #9

#books #bookReview”,

Tech Life Overview

Sun, 03 Feb 2019 07:59:04 +0000

The apps, technology and systems I use. I try to use things that protect my privacy and are security conscious. This usually means open-source software, or self-hosted solutions. I may update this as things change.

Instant Messengers:

Signal: I use this to talk to my wife. I convinced her to switch. I set the messages to auto-delete after 1 week. We use Wire as a backup.
LINE: Unfortunately 99.9% of people in Taiwan use this. I need to keep this active for work and to not be seen as a complete social pariah.
Viber: Used to communicate with my mom in Greece, and sister in Canada. This is a very popular app in Europe it seems. We used to use iMessages but I got rid of my iPhone.

Mastodon: I like the that it is free of ads, has a chronological timeline, content warnings, and has better privacy features than Twitter. It’s also open-source.
GoodReads: It has the best reviews on there. I have started writing reviews on my blog here in an effort to not support Amazon as much as I can.
Google Photos: In a compromise with family, I share photos of my children with family through a Google Photos shared folder. I haven’t found an easy to use replacement for this yet.
I deleted my Facebook, & Twitter.

Blogging:

WriteFreely (self-hosted): It’s a very minimalist blogging tool. I found WordPress has way too many options, and buttons to fiddle with which distracts from actually blogging. This blog is hosted on this.

Apps

Music: Spotify. Too much hassle to download music, tag it correctly and then sync to my phone.
Movies: NETFLIX. I need it for Chinese subtitles to watch shows with my wife. Good value between the kids shows, and my shows. I don’t watch more than about 2 hours of TV a week.
Bittorrent: Transmission (self-hosted). Wherever I am, I can paste a magnet link into this and my home server will download it for me.
File Storage: NextCloud (self-hosted). A very slick open-source, self-hosted replacement for Dropbox/Google Drive. I use a client to sync files between my NextCloud and all the laptops I use.

Ad Blocking

In Firefox, I use the plugins Ublock Origin, Privacy Badger, and HTTPS Everywhere.
Pi-Hole (self-hosted): On my own home network, I use the DNS level ad blocker Pi-hole. It stops ads and other trackers from connecting to the internet. It can be customized to block whatever you want. Lots of people share their own custom blacklists you can load into this.

Computers

Home Laptop: Linux/Manjaro with KDE Plasma DE.
Work Laptop: Linux/Ubuntu with GNOME DE.
** Computer School Gave Me:** Linux/Debian 9 Stretch with Mate DE. I don’t really care what laptop I use really, as long as it’s running Linux. I am not comfortable using Windows anymore.

Phone

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5: I thought I could install LineageOS on this cheap Chinese phone but unfortunately I failed. Xiaomi makes it really difficult to install custom things on their phones and hardware. Avoid! In the future I will find another cheap phone that can have LineageOS on it, or will buy a good phone like a Librem5.

Home Server: Yunohost

All self-hosted things are running on my YunoHost server. I will make more detailed posts about this in the future. Self-hosting is not so difficult anymore. Installed apps:

Pi-hole - DNS ad/spyware blocking
Nextcloud - file storage/sharing, built-in CalDAV server
Transmission - bittorrent client
WriteFreely - blog
Searx - meta search client
Tiny Tiny RSS - RSS client

Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Lu Xun

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 14:01:56 +0000

I really wanted to love this book. It’s about Lu Xun one of the most ‘famous’ 20th century Chinese authors. I can say now after reading this collection, I understand the man, but didn’t really feel the meaning of his stories.

This is not to say I didn’t enjoy the stories, a few were funny, and in some I could even understand the satire he was trying to portray. A large part of me getting even that out of these ~80 year old stories is the passion of the translator. He really wrote detailed, useful footnotes. He even apologizes in the foreword that he erred on the side of caution and wrote more footnotes than were necessary for those that want to know all the little tidbits about Chinese culture and the particular story.

I really enjoy footnotes and these stories really needed them. Lu Xun often drops classical Chinese phrases or allusions into his work. This would be funny or strange in the original text, depending on the story, in the same way as if I quoted a verse of Shakespeare here. The translator italicizes these classical Chinese phrases while explaining it with a footnote as well.

The translator has a brilliant foreword that goes over the details of Lu Xun’s life and even the significance and meaning of some of his major works.

I certainly learned a lot reading these stories, but didn’t feel them in my heart. Sadly I feel the genius of Lu Xun’s work must have largely been lost in translation. I loved the passion of the translator, but stay away from these short stories unless you really, really like learning about China, or want to learn more about Lu Xun.

My Rating: ★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: Book #8

NOTE ABOUT STAR RATINGS: 5 stars = excellent! 4 very good. 3 OK. 2 Disliked. 1 hated it!

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 02:39:38 +0000

“Book Review

A collection of loosely related short stories about Mars. As this was written in the 50s, the themes on Bradbury’s mind seem to be: nuclear war on Earth, imperialism, and racism. Some of the stories were amazing but others felt like they were only to thread the better stories together as a book.

Many of the stories were quite bleak with the Earth completely destroyed, and or in the throes of nuclear war but my favorite story was actually a funny one. The story chronicles the Second Expedition to Mars. The astronauts keep knocking on the doors of Martians trying to get them to recognize them and give them kudos for ““discovering”” Mars.

I mentioned this book to my friend and he told me story of how it came to be. Ray Bradbury was just starting out as a writer and was trying to sell his short stories to publishers in New York. A publisher told him he loves his stuff but it’s hard to sell short stories so could he make it into a book? Ray told him he had some stories about Mars lying around and the rest is history.

Some of the stories have not aged that well but as a whole this is a nice collection of stories from a gentler time when humans only seemed to worry about nuclear war with Russia. It’s fascination how the political climate affects the stories authors write.

My Rating: ★★★★

My 2019 Reading Challenge: #7

#BookReview #books “,

why even blog?

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 18:14:17 +0000

“i guess it’s just a good way to get your thoughts out there. all our lives we are ‘talked at’ by commercials, movies, radio, music, and school that we never get a chance to exercise our own freedom to speak, think, and write. the urge to create feels like an intrinsic human desire. so create i shall.”,

welcome to arkadi cloud!

Fri, 01 Feb 2019 07:39:39 +0000

“i’m excited i got WriteFreely installed on my YunoHost server. i hope to record some more of my thoughts, and experiments here.”,

arkadi-cloud

New Years Reflection 2023

reflection on 2023

fell into gaming (again)

kept reading

the year of podcasts

My favorite podcasts:

news years resolutions suck but…

Increase ++

Decrease –

Runtipi.io Home server manager

Features

Web UI

Folder Structure

Ram Usage:

Features to Investigate In the Future

Conclusion

Reading Challenge 2023

Books I’ve Read in 2023

Dying Light & The Following DLC

Dying Light

Tech Notes

Story

Gameplay

Weapons

Crafting

Moving Around

Old Town

The Following

Conclusion

Oracle Free Tier VPS Server

What is the Oracle Free Tier?

Whats the catch?

Setting Up Oracle Free Tier

Success!

Photo Self-Hosting

Photoprism vs. Immich

Features

Interface

Administration/Setup

Perfomance

Wrap-up

Multiuser support

App

Interface

Conclusion

Reading Challenge Lists

Books I’ve Read

Reading Challenge 2022

Reading Challenge 2021

Reading Challenge 2020

Reading Challenge 2019

Reading Challenge 2018

Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Challenge 2016

Reading Challenge 2015

Reading Challenge 2014

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

Unauthorized Bread

Model Minority

Radicalized

The Masque of the Red Death

The Case of the Careless Kitten by Erle Stanley Gardner

A New Coffee Shop

My variety of complicated requirements

The Plan

Experience

The Puppet Show by M.W. Craven

M Train by Patti Smith

The Puppet Show by M. W. Craven

Advice for Those Looking To Learn

1. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

2. Never Stop Experimenting

4. Learn Something Everyday

5. Embrace Upcycling

6. Share Your Knowledge

Tech Journal - May 2023

Arcane Dimensions Quake 1 Mod

How to play on Fedora Silverblue?

Obsidian Presentation mode to practice grammar