John's Updates en-US Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:24:40 -0700 60 John's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1077536060 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 22:24:40 -0700 <![CDATA[ John is on page 72 of 224 of The Blood Runs Like a Riv ]]> The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams by Nasdijj John Hieb is on page 72 of 224 of <a href="/book/show/240449.The_Blood_Runs_Like_a_River_Through_My_Dreams">The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams</a>. ]]> ReadStatus9528287240 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:04:02 -0700 <![CDATA[John started reading 'The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams']]> /review/show/4258525773 The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams by Nasdijj John started reading The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams by Nasdijj
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Review5651348864 Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:59:37 -0700 <![CDATA[John added 'Chain-Gang All-Stars']]> /review/show/5651348864 Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah John gave 2 stars to Chain-Gang All-Stars (Hardcover) by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Disappointing

My first issue with the story is that there is very little that hasn’t been done before. Gladiator, the Hunger Games, etc. You know this from the jacket, but there really isn’t much that is unique. I also didn’t have a lot of empathy for murderers who agreed to the conditions of the game.

My second issue is that there is a lot of narrative soap boxing. The narrator shouldn’t have to directly tell the reader what to think or what is right or wrong…let this come through the story.

Lastly, using “non-fiction� annotations bugged me as they detract from the narrative flow, mix a fictional world with some grounding in a “real� other world, and the reader can’t be expected to fully trust the annotations since most were not cited. This is clearly a work of fiction, so why subject the reader to sidebars from our actual world? In comparison, The Handmaid’s Tale is a great book because it invites the reader into the alternative fictional universe, and it lets the reader consider the implications of the fictional world with the real world. ]]>
UserStatus1073202099 Mon, 02 Jun 2025 08:22:56 -0700 <![CDATA[ John is on page 106 of 367 of Chain-Gang All-Stars ]]> Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah John Hieb is on page 106 of 367 of <a href="/book/show/61190770-chain-gang-all-stars">Chain-Gang All-Stars</a>. ]]> ReadStatus9483614752 Thu, 29 May 2025 10:54:39 -0700 <![CDATA[John started reading 'Chain-Gang All-Stars']]> /review/show/5651348864 Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah John started reading Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
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Review4259634028 Wed, 28 May 2025 13:29:39 -0700 <![CDATA[John added 'The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity']]> /review/show/4259634028 The Mystery of the Aleph by Amir D. Aczel John gave 3 stars to The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity (Paperback) by Amir D. Aczel
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Review4243150047 Tue, 27 May 2025 07:02:57 -0700 <![CDATA[John added 'The Lincoln Lawyer']]> /review/show/4243150047 The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael    Connelly John gave 5 stars to The Lincoln Lawyer (The Lincoln Lawyer, #1; Harry Bosch Universe, #16) by Michael Connelly
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Review4259634453 Mon, 26 May 2025 21:48:01 -0700 <![CDATA[John added 'The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World']]> /review/show/4259634453 The Riddle of the Compass by Amir D. Aczel John gave 3 stars to The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World (Paperback) by Amir D. Aczel
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Review7565910001 Thu, 22 May 2025 15:29:29 -0700 <![CDATA[John added 'The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook']]> /review/show/7565910001 The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides John gave 5 stars to The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook (Hardcover) by Hampton Sides
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ReadStatus9434031522 Fri, 16 May 2025 22:10:32 -0700 <![CDATA[John started reading 'The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook']]> /review/show/7565910001 The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides John started reading The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
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