From longtime labor organizer Jane McAlevey, a vital call-to-arms in favor of unions, a key …
Topping up my TBR list with a hat tip to Cory Doctorow (pluralistic.net/2023/12/01/bookmaker/)
Reviews and Comments
Book-tooting from @pbarker@social.afront.org.
I use "read" to cover both books and audiobooks, don't hate me! I tend to read about 50% #SciFi & #Fantasy fiction and 50% non-fiction. Non-fiction interests include #Politics & #Economics (especially from #Leftist perspectives), #Evolution, #Philosophy, #Physics, #Religion.
I'm also an #EmbeddedLinux & #OpenSource software developer, #Humanist, #Leftist and quite probably #Autistic (though still on my journey of discovery).
Pronouns are he/him.
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Paul Barker wants to read Hopeland by Ian Mcdonald
Topping up my TBR list with a hat tip to Cory Doctorow (pluralistic.net/2023/12/01/bookmaker/)
Paul Barker wants to read How Infrastructure Works by Deb Chachra
A new way of seeing the essential systems hidden inside our walls, under our streets, …
Topping up my TBR list with a hat tip to Cory Doctorow (pluralistic.net/2023/12/01/bookmaker/)
Paul Barker rated Only forward: 5 stars
Paul Barker wants to read Count Zero by William Gibson (Sprawl, #2)
Count Zero is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, originally published in …
I really should have read the rest of the Sprawl trilogy by now but I just haven't got around to it.... I must fix that soon!
Paul Barker finished reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
The second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS
The Company …
Finished my re-(audio)read of The Two Towers. Andy Serkis' narration is fantastic. His gollum voice is of course great but I also love all the character voices and the orc voices. He puts so much emotion and depth into the reading, it's giving me a fresh appreciation for a series of books which I've read about 5 times before.
Paul Barker started reading The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
The second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS
The Company …
I'm in the middle of a long overdue re-read of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This time I'm listening to the new audiobooks, narrated by Andy Serkis.
Paul Barker reviewed Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
The average human lifespan is absurdly, outrageously, insultingly brief: if you live to 80, you …
A good alternative to traditional time management books
3 stars
I read this as the description really spoke to my todo-list overwhelm and feeling that everything needed to be done.
This book reminds you of the obvious - we're all finite, todo lists are always infinite. You were never going to get everything done anyway, so stop worrying about it. Instead, prioritise ruthlessly, choose things that you're willing to let go or fail at, and value the "now" over the unreachable future that you think will exist when you finish your todo list.
Overall, the book does what it sets out to achieve fairly well. Unfortunately it has a narrowly neurotypical view and doesn't really give space for those of us who struggle to let things go and often fall into absolutist thinking about their todo list. It also makes assumptions that everyone wants similiar things in a few places, especially when it talks about relationships - we don't all …
I read this as the description really spoke to my todo-list overwhelm and feeling that everything needed to be done.
This book reminds you of the obvious - we're all finite, todo lists are always infinite. You were never going to get everything done anyway, so stop worrying about it. Instead, prioritise ruthlessly, choose things that you're willing to let go or fail at, and value the "now" over the unreachable future that you think will exist when you finish your todo list.
Overall, the book does what it sets out to achieve fairly well. Unfortunately it has a narrowly neurotypical view and doesn't really give space for those of us who struggle to let things go and often fall into absolutist thinking about their todo list. It also makes assumptions that everyone wants similiar things in a few places, especially when it talks about relationships - we don't all want a life time monogamous relationship with children and a white picket fence. IMHO a book like this should just avoid talk of relationships if it's going to spend too few pages on them to do them justice.
For me, this books has provided a much needed alternative perspective on things and there are some suggestions which I will take away and try to implement.
Paul Barker reviewed Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis
Imagine a world with no banks. No stock market. No tech giants. No billionaires.
Imagine …
Unnecessary Fiction
2 stars
Another Now compares the structure of the economy and the public sphere as it was when this book was released (just before the pandemic) with an alternative reality where broadly leftist policies were put in place in response to the financial crash of 2008.
I think the fictional framing here actually detracts from Varoufakis' ability to make his argument. Writing fictional characters is clearly not his area of expertise. I would have much preferred this to be another non-fiction book, without the unnecessary fictional elements.
Paul Barker reviewed Hurts So Good by Leigh Cowart
An exploration of why people all over the world love to engage in pain on …
Painfully good
5 stars
I absolutely loved this book when I read it last year. I highly recommend it to anyone who is even remotely kinky, loves spicy food or extreme endurance sports.
Paul Barker rated The Obelisk Gate: 4 stars
The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #2)
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS ... FOR THE LAST TIME. The season of endings grows darker, as civilization …
Paul Barker rated The Stone Sky: 4 stars
The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #3)
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the …
Paul Barker rated The Fifth Season: 5 stars
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)
A SEASON OF ENDINGS HAS BEGUN.
IT STARTS WITH THE GREAT RED RIFT across the heart of the world's sole …
Paul Barker wants to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one …
I'm really excited to see more of the Cosmere after finishing the first 3 Mistborn books!
Paul Barker commented on Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
"HARRY DRESDEN, CHICAGO'S ONLY PROFESSIONAL WIZARD, COULD BE ITS LAST Harry has faced terrible odds …
Broad thoughts on The Dresden files, in response to a post over on Mastodon: Dresden is a chauvinistic asshole at times but I love the worldbuilding, other characters and long running plot threads in this series!