Book Reviews – Page 93 – Carol's Notebook

Finder by Suzanne Palmer

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Finder is fun ride. Fergus Ferguson, a large, redheaded man from Scotland by way of Mars, has made a “career out of chasing things and running away.” Right now he’s focused on chasing an expensive spaceship, Venetia’s Sword, that was stolen from its makers by Gilger, a criminal mob boss. This mission has led Fergus to Cernee, a space colony where Gilger has his home base. Fergus has a plan and a secret method of taking control of Venetia’s Sword, shared with him by the shipbuilders. But things go wrong for Fergus right from the start, when he almost gets killed in a cable car explosion in the space colony. Fergus allies with Gilger’s enemies, who have their own issues with the power-hungry boss, and puts his plan into play, but there are complications … including some mysterious aliens with their own agenda. Finder is more or less a heist story, just with some added complications and a sci-fi background. It's a...

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

June 9, 2020June 9, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Altered Carbon is compulsively readable. It's fast-paced, full of sex and violence, and just grabbed my attention. Kovacs is our rather hard-boiled detective. He's is a loner with a tendency to violence and a willingness to do whatever he needs to, legal or otherwise. He is also more than willing to take "justice" into his own hands and wracks up a body count to prove it. He also has a softer side that only shows up rarely. He was killed on another world and re-sleeved in Bay City in the body of a disgraced cop. People's personalities, souls, consciousness, whatever you want to call it, are digitized and can be downloaded into new bodies with the right reasons or enough cash. Kovac's has one mission: find out who killed Laurens Bancroft, a Meth (short for Methusaleh) billionaire. Bancroft is offering Kovacs some money and more importantly his freedom as a reward. Only a lot of people don't seem to want...

Happy Money by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020 by Carol6 Comments

Happy Money was referenced in the Coursera class The Science of Well-Being, which is why I picked it up. From the class, I already knew the basics of what Happy Money was going to discuss, but it was still interesting and worth reinforcing. The authors are both professors and share a lot of their research, but they've tried to keep it enjoyable too, sharing amusing stories and funny tidbits. Its goal is to help readers learn to spend money in ways that will make them happier. It also touches on businesses and even countries and how they can help their employees/citizens become happier people. Basically there are five principles. Buy experiences rather than material objects.Treat yourself. You enjoy things more if they are occasional treats, rather than everyday things. That one latte a week will make you happier than having one every day.Buy time. Consider how any given purchase will affect your time.Pay now, consume later. Waiting for things makes them...

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths

June 4, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Magician Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby are headlining at the Hippodrome Theater in Brighton, the first time they've done a father-daughter act. DI Edgar Stephens, engaged to Ruby, is called to the murder scene of a young florist found posed and dead in her room at a boarding house. Also staying in the house are two young women who are in the show, a part of the tableaux of nearly-naked "living statues." As the bodies begin to multiply, Edgar and his team, are under pressure to find the killer. I hate to admit that I like Max better than Edgar. Edgar is a good guy, hard-working, honest, a bit guilt-prone. Max is just more interesting. His view of the world is often clearer, even when it comes to Ruby. He's willing to make decisions that are perhaps morally dubious. He loves Italian food and the changes in the world are affecting his career more than Edgar's at this point....

Murder Wore a Mask by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

June 2, 2020June 2, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Sir Harry Mortimer and his American wife, Kat, are settling into married life in the small town of Mydworth. Murder Wore a Mask is the fourthin the Mydworth series and can be read as a stand-alone, but since they’re each only a little over 100 pages, it might just make as much sense to go back and meet Harry and Kat at the beginning. They make a good couple. They’re both smart and resourceful. And the books are enjoyable, quick reads. This time around we're back at Aunt Lavinia's house for a masked ball. A man is found dead by the lake, apparently of a heart attack. Thankfully, many of the guests are spending the weekend at the manor, so when Harry and Kat find out that it was actually murder, all of the suspects are still around. There are a couple of interesting twists and the characters are fun. The masks everyone was wearing fit into the solution too, which was...

Flourish by Martin E.P. Seligman

May 30, 2020May 29, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

In the last couple of months, I've been reading and learning about positive psychology and happiness in general. I did not get much out of Flourish. I sincerely doubt that on its own it helps many people flourish. The base idea is good, I think. The PERMA concept is what brought me to the book. Well-being, happiness, flourishing, whatever you want to call it, consists of 5 pieces: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement. But we learn very little about how to achieve flourishing. Mostly, Flourish is an over-view of what Dr. Seligman has achieved to date and what he hopes to achieve in the future. We learn about his work with the army, with a private school in Australia, with the people who pay a lot to join his Masters program. We learn that he thinks very highly of himself and his theories. We learn about the important people he's met and major positions he's held. What we don't get is...