I Read Many Things

Tag: Opinion

  • Anguished English, by Richard Lederer

    Here’s a really silly book about the uses and misuses of the English language. It’s less of a book written by the author and more a compilation of some of the wildest and funniest mistakes, errors, misappropriations and other uses of the English language. First chapter is mostly about school and was, for me at…

  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

    I don’t think there is any debate as to who is the best known detective in all of fiction. Conan Doyle’s consulting detective has been adapted and re-adapted countless times in so many different eras and genres. Apparently, Sherlock Holmes has been the recipient of a Guinness World Record as the most portrayed individual in…

  • Endure : Mind, Body and Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson (fr)

    Je nourris depuis longtemps une admiration sans fin pour les athlètes de haut niveau, ceux et celles qui défient les limites de qui semble possible d’accomplir avec le simple corps humain. Tous les sports m’intéressent d’une manière ou d’une autre, mais les épreuves d’athlétisme règnent au sommet pour ce qui est de stimuler l’émerveillement. Les…

  • The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, by Oliver Sacks

    Let’s get one thing out of the gate, the title of this book belongs in the Hall of Fame of Book Titles. And if such a thing does not exist, we’ll have to create it from scratch. It obviously played a role in me buying it, but I had heard of Oliver Sacks beforehand. A…

  • Why does E = mc^2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw

    Is there a more famous equation in all of science? Even kids have told me lately that E was equal to mc2 (they’ll say the two out loud as “two” and not as “squared” when they are younger) and usually feel like geniuses for even remembering the order of the letters. I probably did that…

  • Le Livre des Baltimore, par Joël Dicker

    Comme plusieurs, le livre qui m’a fait découvrir Joël Dicker est “La Vérité sur l’Affaire Harry Québert”, qui a propulsé l’auteur suisse au statut de célébrité pour un écrivain francophone. J’ai également beaucoup aimé le livre et son intrigue principale. Sachant que le personnage principal de ce roman, l’écrivain Marcus Goldman, je m’attendais à retrouver…

  • Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls

    This book was suggested a couple of times while looking at the best children’s novels of the past century. I knew basically nothing about it except that it involved a boy and a couple of dogs. Now that I’ve read it, I can safely say this is a good summary of what the book is…

  • Prisoners of Geography, by Tim Marshall

    Geography is somewhat of a weird subject. It’s not exactly what you would consider “hard” science, like chemistry or physics, and yet I think it would be wrong to call it a purely social science. It straddles the line between both because it’s such an all-encompassing field. When you describe the chemical composition of our…

  • The Midrange Theory, by Seth Partnow

    Seth Partnow is one of the best basketball journalists around, an expert in sports analytics. I’ve seen some of his work in the past and have heard him quite a few times as a guest on my favourite basketball podcasts. Liking this book was always a given for me. I pre-ordered it as soon as…

  • Assassin’s Apprentice, by Robin Hobb

    I’ve heard the name Robin Hobb quite a few times years ago when I was working in a bookstore. This author is evidently well-known amongst Fantasy readers for her numerous works. My personal experience with fantasy is mostly through the Tolkien legendarium and the Witcher series of books and games. For a while now I…