I felt like I never really understood what this book was about the whole time I was reading it, and yet I found it strangely compelling. I got sad as I saw the end of the book approaching. I think I'll be returning to this one.
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Arts grantmaker living in Austin, TX. Jazz, museums, pre-Kurtzman Star Trek, so forth and such as. Also in the fediverse at @5easypieces@social.coop.
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Koven Smith reviewed The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Koven Smith reviewed Dilla Time by Dan Charnas
Wish all music books were like this
5 stars
This book was fabulous. Well-researched and compelling, it doubles as a history of Detroit in addition to a study of both the musical and social importance of Dilla himself.
Koven Smith reviewed Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Fun, lightweight
3 stars
A breezy, fun(ish, given some of the subject matter) read. The resolution of the book hinges, somewhat, on a twist that is revealed near the end, and I must confess that I was finding the book far more satisfying up to the point that the twist was revealed. It just felt a bit too “plotty” to me in a book that otherwise revels in nice details.
Koven Smith reviewed In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova
Maybe wonderful?
5 stars
I really struggled to get through this book--I kept losing track of who was who, and a more complete knowledge of Russian history might have helped me contextualize many of the events and anchor them in my mind. And yet, I kept coming back to it, and kept finding one insight after another. And the last quarter of the book was just utterly lovely. I haven't read anything else like it.
Essential
5 stars
Maybe it’s the obvious thing to say, but I wish this book had existed when I started my career in nonprofit technology. Maybe there wasn’t a lot here that was new to me, but there was a lot here that reinforced many lessons learned the hard way, and a lot that the next crop of nonprofit technologists can learn from. Highly recommended.