Book Reviews

The star ratings show how much I enjoyed the book, and how worthwhile I think it is to read. High ratings are not always sign of quality or information density.

The Elements of Spellcasting: 21 Keys to Successful Sorcery

Short and sweet. Although the magic is nice, the book contains pretty good life advice.

Software Design for Flexibility

I expected a more general overview, but the book went very in-depth on the concrete examples. It has some very interesting ideas though, which I'll probably use in every software project moving forward.

The Timeless Way of Building

Starting of with almost mystic concepts, the book methodically shows the reader what makes a good buildings and how to learn to make them yourself. The concept of a "pattern language" can easily be applied to other processes like cooking, writing or coding. After reading this it's obvious that this book had quite some influence in software literature (design patterns, object orientation).

The Melancholy of Mechagirl

A beautifully written collection of stories, very stylish but in a whimsical kind of way. Contains one of the best cyberpunk stories I've read so far. Perfect for lonely hackers interested in japanese culture.

What the Buddha Taught

A very concise (less than 200 pages) description of what Buddhism is about, and what it's not. Given it's length it's worth giving it a read, even if you think it's not for you. I liked that it stayed close to the original texts, and mentioned when things where hard to translate directly into english.

Harry Potter And The Methods of Rationality

Funny and interesting, worth reading all 122 chapters. I liked how it extended the original universe and tied it all together in the end. If you are turned off by the longtermism and materialism like me, there are thankfully still "sane" characters to cling to when it gets a little out of hand.

Robot by Adam Wiśniewski

A sci-fi novel with intriguing concepts which all turn out to be based in real physics (slight spoiler).

Ishmael

An eye opening explanation of our culture, and why it didn't have to be this way. Written as a fun dialogue between an ape and a human, it also has great emotional parts.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

The best solar-punk story I've read, building a beautiful world which brings together existing concepts but also invents some new ones.

The Ministry for the Future

Probably mostly known for its beginning, the story dissolves in the end, with the interesting characters seemingly stuck. Maybe it's because everything is solved in a nearly deus-ex-machina-esque transition where everything goes right, which broke my suspension of disbelief. Don't get me wrong, the proposed solutions are cool (I especially like the children of Kali), but the happy ending described in the book is downright utopic.

Deep Work

If you skip the first chapters about how deep work can make you money, which I found unecessary, the book gives a solid description of the context, philosophy and methods required for concentrated work.

How to Blow up a Pipeline

Interesting book, but doesn't feel like it leads anywhere, and couldn't convince me that activism is a solution to our problems.

Everything is Fucked

Good reflections on hope, and why it is neither required nor healthy.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

Motivational writings about focus, sense of purpose and some other topics. Written in an evocative and direct way, so it might help you if you feel like you are limited by these concepts.

Object Thinking

Starting off with a thorough description of object oriented programming and the concepts necessary to understand it, I feel like it could've been shorter and more concise. The real-world examples felt a bit random, outdated and not well integrated.

The Art of Unix Programming

Good overview off the Unix philosophy and how it is applied to various tools, language and other software. Contains history, software design knowledge and a look forward, which goes only a little into how some problems could be overcome.

Elegant Objects

Practical description of how to approach Object Oriented Programming in a more functional way, how to avoid coupling and find good objects. Take it with a grain of salt, and you'll become a better software developer after reading it.

Snow Crash

It's the flashy, fun cyberpunk novel it is known for. With boring character tropes, nowadays standard cyberpunk gadgets and an only slightly unpredictable storyline it's perfect to enjoy the "hero hacker saves the day" fantasy.

The Three-Body Problem

While the first book is intriguing, the story ramps up exponentially in the end, constantly coming up with exciting concepts, changing your view of the universe, and finishing with a spectacular ending.

Ready Player One

Looking past the innocent 80s asthetics, video games and hacker culture, the second half is pretty dark and contains well integrated criticisms of capitalism, mainstream technology, digital lives and parasocial relationships, which I don't often see mentioned anywhere. The film completely glances over these, but still manages to be pretty good. A more faithful adaptation would probably look more like Bladerunner.

Neuromancer

The writing is extremely stylish, full of color, tech and emotions, and makes other cyberpunk settings feel bland in comparison. I love the characters, twists and pacing, the dialogue and the worldbuilding, with Mona Lisa Overdrive being my favorite book of the trilogy.

Hunger Games

I guess the movies are known for the romance, but the book mostly focuses on class struggle, bare survival, and non-romantic relationships.

The Martian

The only "hard sci-fi" book which made me feel like I was really there, barely living through the struggles of an astronaut stranded on mars.

Sherlock Holmes

A unique and influencial take on the detective genre, with clever cases and a fun dynamic between an annoyed genius and a doctor struggling to keep up.

The Colour of Magic

This disk world trilogy follows a bad, lazy wizard who always gets into trouble, of course being extremely funny, with lots of twists, and depth added to the world on the way.

The Neverending Story

A journey of a boy who steals a book, becomes addicted to it and finds himself inside the story. Behind the incredible fairy-tales it is a story about freedom, life, and what to do with it.

Momo

A childrens story about the only free child left in a world rapidly speeding up, dissolving into materialism and killing all emotions, not unlike our own. I love the characters, the concept of the "gray men" who steal time, the playful moments and the lonely feeling of a world turning into sameness, no one having time to play with you.

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter

A childrens story about family, love, fitting into roles and a deeply magical world full of interesting creatures.