A. Listener

Like a bad script for a season of the West Wing

Revisado: 01-05-24

Fails at being both a techno thriller and political thriller. Manages to yadda-yadda a near magical stealth/cyber capability that drives most of the plot, inexplicable destruction of two CVBGs, takeover of Taiwan, multiple nuclear strikes, etc. etc. All without the ability to build interesting characters, situations, events.

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Best. Economics. Book. Ever.

Revisado: 10-26-21

Want to learn how money works? How the economy works? How politics works? How THE WORLD works, Thomas Sowell will guide you through all this, without a single equation.

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Good book for new managers

Revisado: 08-20-21

A good book for new managers who may not have learned about EQ or other leadership lessons.

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Defies fridge logic

Revisado: 07-28-19

Although the characters are interesting, the dialog pretty good, and well performed overall the book was a let down. Every point of the plot and character action defies fridge logic... it's sort of fun while you read it, but if think about it for just a minute it makes no sense.

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The Future of National Socialism

Revisado: 01-17-19

Although it was a gift, I was truly interested in this book. As the first chapter points out exhaustively, the author's bona fides are respectable and he does make some excellent points about the challenges many economies face. Unfortunately, every solution offered is, essentially, "the state can fix it, let's just tax this thing". The fact that he thinks silicon valley CEOs are libertarians because "bitcoin" should have been the first clue, really.
Most of the "failings" he attempts to pin on capitalism are really the failings of previous manipulations and perversions of capitalism. He repeatedly accuses property owners (literal landlords who rent property tenants) of being unworthy of their capital gains ("they might as well have been sitting on the beach") while simultaneously suggesting pensioners should benefit from gains in the market while simultaneously being insulated from market risk (while literally sitting on a beach). He seems to have missed that those nigh onto retirement should generally move to less volatile investments well before retirement. Moreover, if the state should get most of the gains from agglomeration (despite not taking the risks or investing in the property improvements)... can't the state just purchase the property and invest in the first place? Of course not, then the state assumes the risk... we wouldn't want that.
The author then wraps all this together with a strong urge towards patriotic nationalism, because economies need ties that bind and the only logical tie left to us is geographic locations (nations)... and then in the same chapter describes how ISIS has been able to build a shared identity for disaffected youth via the internet.
If this setup sounds familiar (mandated socialism led by a nationalistic state), well kudos to you. Of course, it will be different this time, he promises.

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esto le resultó útil a 34 personas

Fantastically weird

Revisado: 12-19-18

Although lengthy, the story carried me away and invested me in the characters and world of 1Q84. Reminiscent of science fiction, historical fiction, romance, and mystery novels it is absolutely none of those. If the reader can see through the weird the fantastic is quite enjoyable. Beautifully performed by an ensemble cast.

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Not the best candidate for an audiobook

Revisado: 03-23-18

Probably a good discussion of Six Sigma, but a bit math heavy to follow as an audiobook.

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Meh... not liking where this is going

Revisado: 03-07-18

I love this series. Really, it is fantastic. the characters are great and engaging, the humor is equally crass and intellectual, and the RPG nerd in-jokes are awesome. This entry in the series, however, is a bit concerning.
My two major concerns are that there seems to be a lack of focus on the (in my opinion) major characters in favor of snippets about everyone and everything... and the major character's seem to have devolved to favor the "all star cast" approach. For example, the "party leader" from books 1-3 has kind of been turned into a dolt with little explanation.
Additionally, I sincerely enjoy book series like this one with strong continuity. I also think that individual books in the series must be able to stand on their own as a complete story. Unfortunately, this entry does not. It is completely a set-up for a subsequent book in the series.

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Meh

Revisado: 01-05-18

Despite some good anecdotes and certainly pioneering spirit, the book reads as mostly Forrest Gumping through big cases with occasionally barbs of hypocrisy thrown in (guns are bad, except for hers... here's how to violate rights if you are in a hurry... mandatory sentences are cool, except when she's caught violating FBI policy... etc).

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The boys are back in town

Revisado: 02-03-17

and they brought friends! Another fun romp through the CF universe, expertly performed. The gang takes on racism, sexual assaults, grand theft, mass shootings, and the delicate task of introducing a gnome to the Pixies.

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