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stormlightreader's reviews
782 reviews
How to Win a Grand Prix by Bernie Collins
I loved the insight Collins gives us into the inner workings of a Formula 1 team. The insight is slightly different to that given in Guenther Steiner's, Surviving to Drive, with him being a team principal and Collins being a race strategist. It's lovely to hear how appreciative Collins is of all of the staff involved, from catering to mechanics. However, hearing how organised and structured an F1 team is just makes me sad about how poorly organised my workplace is 😂
I've been lucky to find two F1 books released at the same time that give some detail of Checo's time at his current and previous teams. Collins spent five and a half years working with him and the chapter describing Checo's first Grand Prix win in Sakhir was great.
It's awesome to listen to her insight into the career of a woman in F1 and listening to her talk about her job was really fascinating. Anyone who watches F1 knows Bernie loves a bit of tyre talk and as expected, we get some of that in the book 😂
4.5
"Checo heads for the chequered flag. I can hear the roar from the pit wall."
I loved the insight Collins gives us into the inner workings of a Formula 1 team. The insight is slightly different to that given in Guenther Steiner's, Surviving to Drive, with him being a team principal and Collins being a race strategist. It's lovely to hear how appreciative Collins is of all of the staff involved, from catering to mechanics. However, hearing how organised and structured an F1 team is just makes me sad about how poorly organised my workplace is 😂
I've been lucky to find two F1 books released at the same time that give some detail of Checo's time at his current and previous teams. Collins spent five and a half years working with him and the chapter describing Checo's first Grand Prix win in Sakhir was great.
It's awesome to listen to her insight into the career of a woman in F1 and listening to her talk about her job was really fascinating. Anyone who watches F1 knows Bernie loves a bit of tyre talk and as expected, we get some of that in the book 😂
Environomics: How the green economy is transforming your world by Dharshini David
4.0
A very informative book, that is different to the nonfiction I normally pick up. It reads a lot like an academic paper and from a professional standpoint, I found it very interesting. The author provides a lot of information about how our day-to-day choices have global impacts on the environment. This would be a good book to put in front of the general public but to make it more accessible to real people and their real life decisions, I think the author could have concluded each chapter by bringing the broader information on environmental implications back down to how impactful our daily decisions are. One recurring theme is that the consumer does hold a lot of power and that money is always going to be a huge inhibitor to companies making real large scale change.
Thank you to NetGalley for this free eARC in exchange for a review.
Thank you to NetGalley for this free eARC in exchange for a review.
Growing Wings: The Inside Story of Red Bull Racing by Ben Hunt
4.5
Where Guenther Steiner's Surviving to Drive was laced with humour, which I loved, I was not expecting that nor did I get that from this book. Hunt provides a pretty matter of fact overview of key events from Red Bull Racing's rise to the championship winning Formula 1 team they currently are.
There are some interesting but unsurprising 'revelations' such as the FIA's scepticism of Red Bull's car design and the 'we don't have a number one driver' line (I'm a fan of their current second driver, this is absolutely a thing 😄).
I've grown up around F1 and the names of these drivers have been familiar to me for years but I wasn't as into F1 during Vettel's championship years. So it was insightful to hear about Vettel's mindset, which is currently mirrored in Max Verstappen's mindset and behaviour towards his Red Bull teammate in recent years.
The book was concise and was well paced. It focused on the racing and opted not to wade through any driver on driver dramas and Checo's significant drop off during the 2023 season, which was surprising, but it kept the focus where it needed to be.
There are some interesting but unsurprising 'revelations' such as the FIA's scepticism of Red Bull's car design and the 'we don't have a number one driver' line (I'm a fan of their current second driver, this is absolutely a thing 😄).
I've grown up around F1 and the names of these drivers have been familiar to me for years but I wasn't as into F1 during Vettel's championship years. So it was insightful to hear about Vettel's mindset, which is currently mirrored in Max Verstappen's mindset and behaviour towards his Red Bull teammate in recent years.
The book was concise and was well paced. It focused on the racing and opted not to wade through any driver on driver dramas and Checo's significant drop off during the 2023 season, which was surprising, but it kept the focus where it needed to be.
A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller
5.0
How is a survivor of rape meant to react? Why did the perpetrator carry out these assaults? Should the incompetent police officers have remained in their job after the way they treated Marie? What criteria do police officers use to determine that the survivor is 'looking for attention' or that this qualifies as 'actual consensual sex'? Does a woman invite sexual assault purely by leaving a window open? Do all women have a rape fantasy?
There were so many questions are raised for me while reading this book. This was a fascinating and disturbing read about how a rape survivor is interrogated instead of being interviewed, then labelled a liar and coerced into recanting her story, to be later charged with false reporting, only for her rapist to eventually be arrested miles away.
This book is a book of two parts. On the one hand, this is such an infuriating read. The way Marie is traumatised by the initial attack and then retraumatised again and again by law enforcement is heart-breaking. It is disgusting the way the officers analysed every bit of her behaviour as if she were a perpetrator and then accused her of lying and making her feel like those close to her didn't believe her.
On the other hand, Miller and Armstrong explore how this police department owns up to their mistakes and takes steps to make changes. The portrayal of the Lynwood police department was done very well. It would have been easy to simply paint the officers as misogynistic, but the authors presented the nuanced truth. The detectives, particularly Mason, acted in what he felt was good faith, but clearly lacked proper training to understand the signs of a sexual assault survivor and how these reactions vary among survivors.
The fact that the department owned up to their mistakes and is working to make long-term positive changes is probably to only silver lining to this story. There's also a bit looking into the disturbed mind of the serial rapist which provided some insight to his mindset, including whether he could have been stopped with earlier intervention. However, I am glad they didn't dedicate more than this to him, because his story adds a necessary element in terms of insight, but the focus is on the survivors.
The audio narration is perfect. The pacing is perfect. The content of the book is concise and presents the pertinent details with relevant background details. The authors have also made extensive effort to make sure that the language they used was in line with the survivors' stories (e.g. being referred to as a survivor and not a victim). They had Marie herself fact check the story, which is just a great approach to writing a nonfiction book about such a sensitive topic. It keeps the survivors at the focus of the story, making this a very well-written true crime story. It presents an important discussion of how rape is (or isn't) investigated in America.
Before I listened to this, I watched the Netflix miniseries, Unbelievable, which is based on this story. The show is very faithful to this book and did a very good job telling this story. Both are hard to read/watch, but it's an important story.
This story has similarities to Know My Name by Chanel Miller (which is narrated by her) and from a different angle, The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns, both of which I'd recommend.
There were so many questions are raised for me while reading this book. This was a fascinating and disturbing read about how a rape survivor is interrogated instead of being interviewed, then labelled a liar and coerced into recanting her story, to be later charged with false reporting, only for her rapist to eventually be arrested miles away.
This book is a book of two parts. On the one hand, this is such an infuriating read. The way Marie is traumatised by the initial attack and then retraumatised again and again by law enforcement is heart-breaking. It is disgusting the way the officers analysed every bit of her behaviour as if she were a perpetrator and then accused her of lying and making her feel like those close to her didn't believe her.
On the other hand, Miller and Armstrong explore how this police department owns up to their mistakes and takes steps to make changes. The portrayal of the Lynwood police department was done very well. It would have been easy to simply paint the officers as misogynistic, but the authors presented the nuanced truth. The detectives, particularly Mason, acted in what he felt was good faith, but clearly lacked proper training to understand the signs of a sexual assault survivor and how these reactions vary among survivors.
The fact that the department owned up to their mistakes and is working to make long-term positive changes is probably to only silver lining to this story. There's also a bit looking into the disturbed mind of the serial rapist which provided some insight to his mindset, including whether he could have been stopped with earlier intervention. However, I am glad they didn't dedicate more than this to him, because his story adds a necessary element in terms of insight, but the focus is on the survivors.
The audio narration is perfect. The pacing is perfect. The content of the book is concise and presents the pertinent details with relevant background details. The authors have also made extensive effort to make sure that the language they used was in line with the survivors' stories (e.g. being referred to as a survivor and not a victim). They had Marie herself fact check the story, which is just a great approach to writing a nonfiction book about such a sensitive topic. It keeps the survivors at the focus of the story, making this a very well-written true crime story. It presents an important discussion of how rape is (or isn't) investigated in America.
Before I listened to this, I watched the Netflix miniseries, Unbelievable, which is based on this story. The show is very faithful to this book and did a very good job telling this story. Both are hard to read/watch, but it's an important story.
This story has similarities to Know My Name by Chanel Miller (which is narrated by her) and from a different angle, The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns, both of which I'd recommend.
Jackdaw by Daniel Cole
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.
No intrigue and a bit ridiculous in places.
Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
4.0
Random note to start with: there has definitely been a change in tone since King Alfred died, one I'm happy about. While watching the show, the biggest annoyance for me was Uhtred being tethered to Alfred because of a vow he'd made, which felt less prominent in the books, even when Alfred was alive, but since Alfred's death and him taking back Bebbanburg, it feels like Uhtred is more free. Even though he is still keeping promises to Alfred's kids, it still doesn't feel like he's in the same kind of chokehold as he is in the show.
Sword of Kings is another good book which feels a little repetitive and one plot thread make a reappearance (Uhtred's wife conveniently ends up dead just as he's found a replacement wife 🙄, which is tiresome but the show prepared me for that). However, I am enjoying how Uhtred's aging is being portrayed, and that he isn't faultless in this book. It's not the first book in the series that feels like a filler book but there is some slight differences in this one. The most notable being that Uhtred encounters quite a humiliating encounter at the hands of an enemy, which naturally Finan rescues him from. If it wasn't for the intervention of others, namely Finan, Uhtred may not still be alive at the end of Book 12. Finan, once again is the best character in this book!
I never grow tired of Cornwell's action scenes. I like that the past couple of books have been set on ships - random thing to review, but I liked that. These books have without a doubt become a comfort read for me and you know exactly what you're getting from them, and if that's what you want in your comfort reads then you won't be disappointed.
One more book to go!
Sword of Kings is another good book which feels a little repetitive and one plot thread make a reappearance (Uhtred's wife conveniently ends up dead just as he's found a replacement wife 🙄, which is tiresome but the show prepared me for that). However, I am enjoying how Uhtred's aging is being portrayed, and that he isn't faultless in this book. It's not the first book in the series that feels like a filler book but there is some slight differences in this one. The most notable being that Uhtred encounters quite a humiliating encounter at the hands of an enemy, which naturally Finan rescues him from. If it wasn't for the intervention of others, namely Finan, Uhtred may not still be alive at the end of Book 12. Finan, once again is the best character in this book!
I never grow tired of Cornwell's action scenes. I like that the past couple of books have been set on ships - random thing to review, but I liked that. These books have without a doubt become a comfort read for me and you know exactly what you're getting from them, and if that's what you want in your comfort reads then you won't be disappointed.
One more book to go!
The Sorrows of Mexico by Juan Villoro, Anabel Hernández, Lydia Cacho
At least I get the fascination fulfilled by Mexican fiction books and the horror from Mexican non-fiction books.
4.0
"In Mexico each horror story surpasses the previous one and Mexico looks increasingly like one enormous mass grave"
Stories of 'disappeared' people, prisons without bars, cartels exerting their seemingly endless power, girls/women 'boyfriended' into the sex trade, journalists kidnapped and tortured and civilians training themselves to do what the authorities should be doing but are too scared to do.
To quote the writer Gregor von Rezzori (cited in this book)
I am "fascinated and horrifed by Mexico in equal measure".
At least I get the fascination fulfilled by Mexican fiction books and the horror from Mexican non-fiction books.
The Sorrows of Mexico was a bit of a mixed bag, but mostly good with some really interesting stories and some less interesting ones towards the end. However, it introduced me to some new Mexican non-fiction writers that I'm looking forward to reading more from.
Sidenote: I don't think I've ever used a map so much while reading a book 😂
Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro
As someone who has a developing knowledge of Mexico's history, I found this to be a gentle introduction to some key figures of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. I'm learning a lot about the history of Mexico through books written by authors of Mexican descent, and Immortal Pleasures gave me some of that history with a fantasy twist.
I found Castro's depiction of La Malinche's story very interesting to read. I liked Malinalli's modern day storyline but her POV detailing past events was my favourite, particularly the flashback of Malinalli's transformation into a vampire. The first romantic interest (Colin) brought out a very animalistic side of Malinalli (the butter scene ), compared to her second romantic interest (Alex), who seemed to bring out her softer side. I felt like Malinalli flitted quite quickly from wanting a 'no strings' relationship to wanting a 'forever' relationship, which is explained away by the vampiric 'senses' she has. However, Alex and Malinalli probably should've been given more page time than Colin and Malinalli, to make this feel a bit more realistic, but both relationships were essential to show both of these sides of Malinalli. That said, the smut was my least favourite part of the book partly due to Castro's descriptions but mostly due to the fact that I'm not a romance reader.
Immortal Pleasures combines vampires, historical fiction, and a little spice. I also want to read up on the history of La Malinche, as well. I'm definitely missing bits from this review but I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to get to Queen of the Cicadas.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I have pre-ordered a copy.
4.0
"So many adults masking as children bringing more children into the world. Most of the time people have children without any thought. You won’t catch me taking care of anyone."
As someone who has a developing knowledge of Mexico's history, I found this to be a gentle introduction to some key figures of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. I'm learning a lot about the history of Mexico through books written by authors of Mexican descent, and Immortal Pleasures gave me some of that history with a fantasy twist.
I found Castro's depiction of La Malinche's story very interesting to read. I liked Malinalli's modern day storyline but her POV detailing past events was my favourite, particularly the flashback of Malinalli's transformation into a vampire. The first romantic interest (Colin) brought out a very animalistic side of Malinalli (
Immortal Pleasures combines vampires, historical fiction, and a little spice. I also want to read up on the history of La Malinche, as well. I'm definitely missing bits from this review but I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to get to Queen of the Cicadas.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I have pre-ordered a copy.
War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell
4.0
Yes, the series is formulaic at this point and Uhtred is lucky as ever, but I'm not going to complain about this when this is a comfort series. Unfortunately, other than physically aging (he's over 60 at this point ), Uhtred has developed very little over eleven books. This is where I feel the show depicts him a little bit better, he still has some of the traits he has in the book but I think the show smooths some of his edges and makes him a little easier to like (particularly towards women).
Some of the past few books have been a bit on the slow side, and while I’ve still enjoyed them, a couple have just scraped a 4* for me. War of the Wolf is one of these purely because of the pacing at the start of the book (despite opening with Æthelflaed's death ). It starts slow (at the 100 page mark, I was thinking this would be a 3*) but around the halfway point it really picked up for me unfortunately because it is around this point we hear of Stiorra's death . I still adore Finan! He is without a doubt my favourite character in this series and I am so sad that he is a loyal supporting character but gets substantially less page time than he deserves. The continued confusion about what a lion is has me laughing every time I read it now 😂 ("a lion, whatever that is").
At this point (2 books left) Cornwell is clearly setting up for what I hope is a great ending to the series. I’m sad this series is coming to an end but I don't see how much more story there would be, so it feels like a nicely sized series.
Some of the past few books have been a bit on the slow side, and while I’ve still enjoyed them, a couple have just scraped a 4* for me. War of the Wolf is one of these purely because of the pacing at the start of the book (
At this point (2 books left) Cornwell is clearly setting up for what I hope is a great ending to the series. I’m sad this series is coming to an end but I don't see how much more story there would be, so it feels like a nicely sized series.
The Flame Bearer by Bernard Cornwell
4.5
One of my favourites in the series so far. Uhtred is back home ! Basically, this book is Uhtred marching his way back home and spreading rumours up and down the country to throw his enemies off 😂
The historical notes at the end of each book tells the reader how much of the book is fictional and how much is history and regardless of how much is fiction, I still enjoy the books. This is a must read if you are already invested in the Saxon Stories, even if it's just to see Uhtred come home! This is the seventh book in my recent marathon of the Last Kingdom books and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Such a comfort series. I say it in almost every review but Cornwell writes amazing battle scenes! Cornwell's book are so immersive and hard to put down. I'm looking forward to finishing the series.
The historical notes at the end of each book tells the reader how much of the book is fictional and how much is history and regardless of how much is fiction, I still enjoy the books. This is a must read if you are already invested in the Saxon Stories, even if it's just to see Uhtred come home! This is the seventh book in my recent marathon of the Last Kingdom books and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Such a comfort series. I say it in almost every review but Cornwell writes amazing battle scenes! Cornwell's book are so immersive and hard to put down. I'm looking forward to finishing the series.