Tag: reading

Is it okay to criticize books?

~ Veselin ~ 10 Comments

I awarded 3* to Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker with a few harsh sentences and a couple of weeks later, it was announced he’ll visit Bulgaria. He did and I met him. Felt so embarrassed. But why was that?

When it comes to criticism, Dale Carnegie has been my ultimate guide. He wrote:

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

Dale Carnegie

I just completed book 11 of Stephanie Plum’s series. I liked it but let’s assume I didn’t. I didn’t like that Stephanie ate so many donuts and faced no consequences. Most of us would burn in hell if we ate half of that. So, we have a disagreement on the donuts problem. What do I do? May I go to Goodreads for a soul-crushing review, and award 1*?

Dale Carnegie says criticism does not work, it’s always bad, and he’s also attributed to a saying that constructive criticism doesn’t work either. Are there any exceptions? Dale Carnegie himself criticizes the people who criticize by saying they are fools, so at least one exception must exist.

The only somewhat working system I’ve seen so far is to criticize actions and not the people who do the actions. When I yell at my kids, I yell things like “Fighting with each other is bad” and I don’t yell “You are bad”. When reasoning is provided, it should be specific and with no generalizations. “This particular thing is bad because of this specific reason”. “Don’t punch your brother, he’ll feel bad and cry and I’ll take your phone” as opposed to “Stop you, idiot”, even though the second feels so much more rewarding.

So, in the context of Stephanie Plum #11, I said this: “I didn’t like that Stephanie ate so many donuts and faced no consequences. Most of us would burn in hell if we ate half of that.” – this criticizes Stephanie and generalizes because she doesn’t always eat vast amounts of donuts, only when her hair is messed up or her car explodes. Most people probably don’t have sugar issues, and I can’t speak for most people anyway – I can only speak for myself. I should’ve said something like “Reading about Stephanie eating 7 pieces of cake in one go made me feel nauseous. Cakes and donuts in such amounts can make her ill. I wish she had another way of dealing with the burnt and exploding cars.”

White Sand Omnibus by Brandon Sanderson

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I blogged about this book because it’s heavy and impressive due to its size. I read it today. It was quite an adventure.

I only had rough memories from White Sand part 1, and the Omnibus contains parts 1, 2, and 3, so it’s technically 3 books. Reading the first part didn’t mess up with my experience, and I wouldn’t even count it as a re-read. It had additions to part one, and the visuals were significantly changed so it felt like a different book.

The second and the third parts had different artists. Part three was the simplest and I liked the most.

Story-wise, I’m surprised by the low 3.5 rating on Goodreads. The story is good. A typical Sanderson with a clever magical system, an attempt to explain it but not too much so that there’s room for 2-3 follow-ups. There’s a hint of a romance but nothing more. It’s good vs evil, however the evil is biting from the shadows.

Worth the time and money. 5/5.

PS. not sure how I was supposed to read it, I left prints on the book. I’ve never noticed leaving prints on books. This one was prone to prints. Go figure.

Stephanie Plum – books 7 to 10

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I achieved my goal of reading the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The series is about a hot formerly unemployed bounty hunter who chases evil folks and loses them 10 times per book to only capture them on the 11th attempt. This is usually funny and low-risk, with no drama.

The story evolved over the last 4 books.

  • Criminals are no longer inviting themselves to Stephanie’s apartment at the same rate. The ability to break 3 of the top 10 locks out there is not that common and people breaking in at a whim started getting annoying. I’m glad this part is gone, hopefully, to never be seen again
  • Characters who were captured in previous books reappeared either as allies or as adversaries
  • Janet Evanovich started developing some wicked love for donuts and cakes. All female characters eat sugar like their life depend on it. Truckloads of donuts, chips, and cake. On one occasion, truckloads of bacon.
  • Stephanie’s sidekick Lula developed the sit-jitsu battle skill where she would sit on a criminal and squash them as a bug
  • Stephanie’s two love interests Joe Morelli and Ranger are no longer translucent. Morelli is the cop and Ranger is the mysterious millionaire in love with the clumsy nerd. Both didn’t add anything to the story over the last 4 books and I wish they get assignments in Venezuela. They were better when they were translucent.

All in all, books 7 to 10 are all in the 4/5 territory. They’re fine and I may read a few more because reading about Stephanie Plum is comforting. I just hope she stops eating donuts. It’s bad for her and unpleasant for me. We don’t want the main characters to die from sugar poisoning.

Thraxas and the Elvish Isles by Martin Scott

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

This is the 4th book of the series for the round former battle mage Thraxas and his fierce friend Makri. I reviewed the first one here and then read #2 and #3. Part 4 felt like the best and most balanced of all. It is the best mystery and the one with the least battles. Still zero drama.

Thraxas is invited to an Elven island to help with a murder case. Elves have no crime and no detectives. Murder on their island is a big thing. Asking questions, on the other hand, is not appreciated. On top of it, it looks like people are under some kind of spell, the murderess is inadequate, and the high elves do not drink beer.

From a character development point of view, have a chance to learn about Makri’s Orkish kendoka origins. She will wield some wooden swords this time.

5/5. The book on Goodreads.