Trust Me, I'm Lying is Ryan Holiday's first book and it's about his career in advertising. It discusses how modern news has been corrupted by its online business model where profits are directly tied to advertising revenue. The more clicks a web page receives, the more a business makes, motivating a "quantity over of quality" mentality and incentivizing incendiary journalism. At first glance, Holiday's thesis seems unoriginal, but what really makes this book interesting are Holiday's stories about how he has personally taken advantage of this corrupted system in his career in advertising.

Holiday points out how investigative reporting is not the status quo in modern media. Instead, financial incentives lead journalists to publish first, without always confirming the legitimacy of their data and frequently citing links or articles as sources; "The link economy encourages bloggers to repeat what 'other people are saying' and link to it instead of doing their own reporting and standing behind it" (pg 180).

Holiday argues that most media trickles up from small blogs to local news and larger blogs (eg. Buzzfeed, Huff Post) to larger publications (eg. New York Times, Los Angeles Times). This allows people like Holiday and his co-conspirators, to send "tips" to local bloggers only to see that news later show up as "fact" on more legitimate sites like the New York Times.

If the these tips happen to be wrong, journalists are slow to correct their errors. Bloggers will often add retractions to the bottom of blogs, where no reader will ever see it, rather than taking down a revenue generating article. This means an article, even if it's wrong, can permanently damage a company or individual's reputation.

Holiday emphasizes that modern media is untrustworthy. For example, media outlets will also publishing articles with hedging language and correct details as more information becomes available, which is also called iterative journalism. "One of the ways that journalists justify their laziness today is by claiming that breaking news deserves special exemptions from their moral obligations to, you know, actually be right and pass along correct information" (pg 185). The link economy and a reliance on anonymous tipping has lead to phenomena such as circular reporting also know as "citogenesis" (something I might have just contributed to by adding this Wikipedia link to this book review).

This book was so interesting. Who doesn't love a polemic? I've been reading quite a few Ryan Holiday books lately because he is a good writer and the themes of his books are fascinating. Holiday is an often polarizing figure, and Trust Me, I'm Lying is considered both a criticism of the news and a guidebook to unethical advertising. Ryan Holiday's word is not the of God, he just writes so convincingly you might believe it is. You should keep your bullshit monitor on high alert while reading the book, but also observe how many of his theories seem grounded in solid evidence.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Big Krill ™:

4.5/5 Whales. Way Better than Moby Dick.

"The Accidental Alchemist" by Gigi Pandian is the definition of an average mystery novel. The story is readable and fun, but not innovative. My favorite part about the book are the food descriptions. The food is vegan so one might think is wouldn't sound good, but Pandian has a way with food related words. Some authors can do that. C.S. Lewis even made me think Turkish Delight was ambrosia... until I tried it. He sold his soul for that?! If youre going to sell your sould for candy, at least make it good candy...

Anyway, "The Accidental Alchemist" is about Zoe Faust, an alchemist who has given up the craft after her lover, Ambrose, died in a mysterious accident. Decades later, Zoe is still not over him and has been moving from city to city until she buys a fixer-upper in Portland, Oregon, a place she wants to settle down. The second she steps into her new home, the drama commences.

Zoe accidentally found the Elixir of Life centuries before and has been alive since the Salem Witch Trials. Her skills lie in herbal medicine and having unspeakably good luck. In this novel she is asked to be a sleuth for Dorian, an adorable gargoyle who was animated by a magician hundreds of years before.

Everything in the novel is very convenient. Dorian is a conveniently amazing chef who brings Zoe a mystery to solve. The magic that animates him is failing and he is slowly turning back into stone. Dorian brings Zoe an extremely valuable alchemist book that contains the potion that originally animated him; he needs her help translating the text. But the book is immediately stolen and someone is murdered.

Zoe also conveniently has friends with the background to help her solve the mystery, and who also have money to solve all her problems. This is not a finely plotted, exciting mystery; it is an okay romance novel smashed together with an okay mystery novel. (The love interest Max Liu is a hottie cop with an apothecary hobby.)

It's not that I think "The Accidental Alchemist" isn't worth reading; it is enjoyable. However, I did get my copy at the library. If the library had the second book, I would probably pick it up to read it over this winter, but since they don't have it, I won't be spending $4.99 on Book 2.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by The Vegan Whale Warriors (VWW):

3/5 - Pleasantly Diverting

I was excited to read a stand-alone teen novel (I'd assumed it was stand-alone because it was an 18-hour audiobook), and it took me until 16 hours in to realize that it is a quartet. Shit.

The main protagonist is Evie, who can see peoples' past by touching their personal objects. In The Diviners, Evie is sent to New York because her powers and her rambunctious personality kept getting her in trouble in her small town. She moves in with her uncle, Will O'Neill, who is the curator of the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult.

Will is brought in on a hunt for a serial killer who practices the occult, and Evie forces her way into the investigation. Evie and Will don't know that the serial killer is an evil spirit who has been reanimated and has restarted his killing spree in an effort to regain corporeal form, but the reader does because we get to read Naughty John's perspective.

The novel takes place in the 1920s. I've always had an obsession with smokey-eyed flappers and the era's prohibition party sub-culture. It just seems so cool. The thing is that when I actually read books about the era, I'm disappointed. The 1920s aesthetic is usually kind of boring, because the characters are almost all prudes. This novel follows the same pattern, everyone seems sexy and fun at first, but their attitudes don't translate to their actions. It's just their clothing or jobs that are interesting, not the actual plot of the novel.

Ok, ok. That might be a little harsh. There is an actual plot in this book and it's actually pretty engaging. The novel follows a group of young people in New York with supernatural abilities. What's not to like about that?

However, there are too many characters in this book. We read the perspectives of at least 10 characters throughout the novel. That should have been a red flag to me that there were going to be sequels because a lot of the characters seemed important but they don't actually do anything in this first book. Likely, they will be pulled into the storyline in the sequels.

Overall, this book was pretty good. I'm tempted to read more of these books because the story was pretty engaging and I like Evie, witches, and the supernatural. I'm not sure I'm willing to commit to three more 18-hour audiobooks, so we shall see whether I pick up the subsequent books in 2023.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Pod Propaganda (PP):

3.5/5 Whales - Enjoyable

What is the Jacky Faber book series, you ask? The books follow the adventures of an orphan girl who disguises herself as a boy and joins a Royal Navy ship to escape her tragic life, leading (eventually) to a life of piracy. I read this series when I was a teenager. After reading a very disappointing young adult pirate book (see review of “The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy”), I decided to revisit the first book in the series called “Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship's Boy” by L.A. Meyer. Just like its title, this book series is Extra, and I love it. 

The book is written in British 1800s-style street vernacular that is engaging and hilarious, but also means I hate the audiobook with a fiery passion. I DO NOT recommend the audiobooks. Since the book is written as if a street urchin is speaking the book can be challenging to read until you get Jacky’s dialect down. However, the result is a super immersive novel with a heroine who has a distinct and ostentatious, if mildly obnoxious, personality. 

I think these are the best naval and piracy books that I’ve ever read; it’s even better that they feature a female character. Jacky just doesn’t give a f**k. She’s greedy and has no pretense about it. She isn’t intentionally malicious but she makes decisions with the goal of having more money in her pocket. She kills people, but mostly in battle or to protect others and herself. In fact, Jacky prides herself on taking the moral high ground, and not killing indiscriminately. This ultimately makes her more likable, and allows these books to be in the “teen/children” section instead of the adult section. 

These novels are sort of like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, or a Marvel movie. Jacky gets herself in the craziest situations and somehow manages to get herself out against all odds. As a consequence, the plots of each subsequent book get crazier and crazier as the author tries to one-up himself. Jacky gets captured by a slave ship, meets Indians along the Mississippi River, and fights with Napoleon in Prussia; these books are wild. 

The author includes characters of different races, sexualities, and “professions,” but the series isn’t quite as woke as 2020+ teen novels and TV shows. This is no Bridgerton. Although there are people of color, the author writes them into roles that are realistic for the time period. Jacky is frequently ignorant, offensive, and rude, but it allows the author to show when Jacky is out of line. Sometimes these liberal and moralist moments are a tad on-the-nose, but they aren’t as pretentious as some other books I’ve read (*cough cough* “The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy”)

One thing that really gets to me is the author’s insistence that Jacky remain a “maiden” throughout the series. Her virginity is directly connected to her value. She frequently uses her virginity to prove she is worthy to the men she meets on her adventures. 

After the first book, Jacky becomes betrothed to the first guy she kisses.  In every subsequent book, even though Jacky is promised to another, she meets a new cute boy and usually does a little more than hold his hand. It’s weird that the author maintains that Jacky be a virgin but writes her as unfaithful. I think it’s the author’s way of letting Jacky be the virgin and the whore simultaneously. I can’t say that this is feminist, but it does make for quite juicy and entertaining scenes.

This series is not perfect, but, damn, it’s fun to read. Am I going to stop reading? No way, it is so fun and it is exactly what I need right now.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by The School for Whale-y Smart Girls:

4.5/5 Whales - Way Better than Moby Dick

The book is about a person with extremely long fingernails who lives in a house filled only with hermaphrodites. The hermaphrodites are not allowed to leave the house, nor wear clothing, and clothed-people come to the house to have sex with them, and also, gruesomely torture and kill them. 

The protagonist, is both a man and a woman but has distinctly masculine and vengeful energy in the novel. The protagonist spends a lot of their time living in a closet because whenever any stranger visits the house it is required that someone stay in the closet (not sure if this is a bad metaphor). 

Our protagonist becomes cognizant of the torture they’re facing and seeks revenge. I think this book is filled with metaphor but the meanings are so general and vague you can shape them to fit any thesis. For example, the novel could serve as a message about the patriarchy forcing people who are different into cages so it can feel better about itself. It could also be a metaphor for crushing the patriarchy by growing out our nails and embracing both our masculine and feminine halves. It could be a million things. 

If you like bizarre Columbian novels, being enthralled yet confused simultaneously, or need a novel for an essay for school, I would recommend this 100-page book. Stranger to the Moon is creepy, and I hate that I can’t stop thinking about it. 

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Neighborhood Whale Watch (NWW):

2.5/5 Whales — Readable

The first thing I’ll say about Vladimir by Julia May Jonas is that its book cover is misleading.

The six pack abs and slightly hairy chest on the cover do belong to a character in the book named  “Vladimir”, but the book is not a romance novel. Vladimir is about a female professor who teaches in a small liberal arts college. Her husband is being tried by the university for having ambiguously consensual sex with some of his young students. The writing is bitingly sarcastic to juxtapose the very cringe-worthy main topics, which focuses on the culpability of sexual assault, the pitfalls of open relationships, and the effects of marriage and power for middle-aged women.

Vladimir purposefully rides the edge of controversial. The author places the characters in situations with no clear or happy resolution. Consequently, the novel evokes a sense of tension and anticipation. 

For example, the main character is constantly asked by students and individuals in her community why she doesn’t reject her husband for his sexual misconduct. However,  no trial has been conducted and all of the affairs occurred with students over 18 before institutional regulations prohibiting student/teacher relationships were in place. When our narrator is asked to step down from teaching because her presence is “triggering” to students, she becomes enraged. There is no clear way for her to stand up for her husband without facing retribution from her students and colleagues.

The book is called Vladimir because the narrator, who is nameless throughout the book, becomes obsessed with Vladimir, the newest professor at the liberal arts school. The ending of this book involves a bare-chested Vladimir, but was very, ummm, unexpected. Just to give a small teaser, I think the narrator should have been tried for sexual misconduct as well.

This book reminds me of the worst elements of a liberal arts education. The main character is admittedly self-centered and her dreary and depressed inner monologue is almost as toxic as some of the conversations I had in undergrad. 

The book is filled with really serious and artistic contemplation about the efficacy of writing and creating. A lot of blah-blah analysis of literature. I love reading essays and analyses of literature, but some of the diatribe in this book made me irrationally angry. It reminded me of the sensation of finishing a grandiose Atlantic article and thinking to myself, “Just because you have a Bachelor of Arts doesn’t mean you can tell me what to think,” while also imagining the author’s head slowly expanding with each subsequent Atlantic publication until eventual explosion. 

However, I will say that Vladimir seems intentionally self-aware so that some of the more controversial topics or ideas come across as ironic. It is hard for me to say whether this book is literary fiction at its best or worst.  This is another book that I enjoyed but my boyfriend would only read at gunpoint. 

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Atlantic Whales (AW):

3/5 Whales. Pleasantly Diverting.

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal is the sequel to The Calculating Stars. I liked The Fated Sky WAY more than The Calculating Stars because I read the e-book instead of listening to the audiobook. The main character, Elma, is much more tolerable when she isn’t cry-talking the whole time.  If it wasn’t clear, DON’T listen the audiobook unless you enjoy hearing women cry, which likely means you have bigger issues than bad audiobooks.

The Fated Sky starts out on a moon base, called Artemis, where Elma is a glorified bus driver; she is in charge of piloting aircrafts to transport people and goods around the moon. Elma, despite being in a situation that sounds exciting on paper, is bored out of her mind. She misses her husband, who is still on earth, but loves the adventure of exploring “new frontiers”. Elma still is still a beloved public figure on Earth, so in a bureaucratic maneuver to garner public support and money for the space program, Elma is given the chance to join the ongoing Mars expedition.

The majority of the novel takes place on the spaceship headed to Mars. Just like The Calculating Stars, The Fated Sky is not so much about science — it is about the interpersonal relationships of the crew on the Mars expedition and the political decisions and interpersonal relationships that  govern their behavior.

In the series, the author spends a lot of time discussing race relations, but does Robinette Kowal do a good job? Meh, kind of… The book series takes place around the 1950s, so I think that the author’s discussions of race represent the unfortunate realities of the time period. However, the book is clearly written through a modern woke lens, which dramatically emphasizes that racism is clearly wrong. Racism is obviously wrong but Robinette Kowal’s heavy-handed approach was highlighted when Martin Luther King made several guest appearances. As Elma fumbles her way into becoming an ally of the Black astronauts on the space station, the style and presentation of a modern narrative in a historical context makes for an awkward and predictable reading experience.

The Fated Sky discusses some trade-offs of space travel that are constantly debated. Pundits frequently pose the question: what is the purpose of modern space travel? Why spend money on space when people are suffering on Earth? These questions are posed by the characters in the novel, but no real answers are given. It is clear that the characters, and likely the author, believe that space travel is good for humanity because it allows humans to make technological advances; and in the novel’s case, space travel is necessary to colonize a new world. But it is also clear, as it is in our society today, that nascent space travel will only be available to the extremely rich or the extremely intelligent.

One thing that really bugged me about this book is that the moon base is called Artemis (see my review of Artemis by Andy Weir).  Artemis is also the name of the moon base that is currently being developed by NASA (https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/).  How do all these moon bases have the same name? This led me into a brief investigation the origin of the name, Artemis.

From Greek Mythology, Artemis is the goddess of the moon and is the twin sister of Apollo. Given the original space program was called Apollo, the name Artemis makes a lot of sense. Perhaps Weir and Robinette Kowal were inspired by NASA’s Artemis program, which was launched in 2017. Artemis by Andy Weir was released in 2017 and The Fated Sky was published in 2018. I would like to read a book with a moon base with a more creative name. Let me know if you know of any.

The Fated Sky emulates some attributes of the historical fiction genre. Although Nathaniel, Elma’s husband, was barely in this novel, the author was able to include a little something, something *wiggles eyebrows aggressively* for the readers. Before Elma leaves for Mars, the author includes one sex scene that, just like in The Calculating Stars, contains strange space-related sex talk. Honestly, the sex scenes in these books are horrible and corny but I’m sure it launches somebody’s rocket.

Overall, the book was a fun and quick read. The writing is fluid and the plot is engaging. It focuses on a side of space travel that is human-centric. There isn’t a single character who saves the world (like most Andy Weir books) instead all the characters are crucial to the success of the mission. Working in teams relies on collaboration and navigating complex interpersonal relationships, which is one of the main dynamics explored throughout the novel. I’m excited to read the next one!

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whale’s Rocket Club (WRC):

3.5/5 Whales — Enjoyable

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab is about Kell, a rare breed of magician who is able to use blood magic to travel between three Londons: Grey London, Red London, and White London. There is a fourth London, Black London, that was cut off from the others because of a magical plague that threatened all four worlds. Kell, despite being adopted by the royal family, knows he is a slave to Red London because of his unique abilities. In mild rebellion, Kell acts out by illegally smuggling goods between worlds until, one day, he smuggles an artifact that changes his life.

Kell is assisted on his journey by Delilah Bard, a renegade thief.  Lila’s defining characteristic is her strong conviction. Lila is a female heroine who is relatable yet doesn’t hesitate to murder her enemies. This is a balance that a lot of authors get wrong. They make female character’s who are relatable because they always do the nice thing, not because they do the right thing.

In the fist 100 pages of the book, Lila proves to the reader that she is a strong capable woman by murdering her attacker in a gratuitous rape scene. I’m bringing up this scene because rape or an attempted rape is a common cliche used in fantasy novels and tv shows (The Outlander Series and The Eon series to name a few). Lila defies expectations by murdering her attempted rapist and, unflinchingly, setting him on fire. I don’t like it when authors use of rape to represent stratifications of power in novels — it is icky and frankly unnecessary.  Lila already shows her badassery by conning the cops and fighting other enemies — I wish the author had chosen to show Lila’s strength and relentlessness without this low-brow fantasy convention.

Nevertheless, the writing in A Darker Shade of Magic is extremely precise and readable. The language in the novel is easy to digest and the plot is fun and entertaining. This book does not start in medias res, the middle of the plot; it starts at the very beginning. Consequently, the first 100 pages are drawn out and anticlimactic as the author builds the foundations of the world. However, the pace of the novel picks up dramatically once Kell smuggles something he shouldn’t.

If you're someone who hates romance in science fiction books, A Darker Shade of Magic offers a brief respite. There is some chemistry between Kell and Lila but romance is not the focus of the novel. Lila is a great character; she is an androgynous woman who loves to see herself in a sharp suit. It’s not everyday where the main female character in a novel has a makeover scene that leaves her looking more masculine than when she started.

In some ways I’m surprised that a  A Darker Shade of Magic is the first book in a trilogy because the novel is very self-contained. There are just a few loose plot lines, but I’m excited enough by those dangling threads that I’ll gladly sew the sequel.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Orcas: A Darker Shade of Whale:

4/5 Whales — A Tail for the Ages.

I love Sally Rooney and I’m not really sure why. I find her characters horribly vain and banal, yet extremely relatable. I know many people who would hate Beautiful World, Where Are You because nothing really happens in the novel, and the drama in the story is created by the characters’ own incompetencies and questionable decisions. In the end, Sally Rooney’s novels are stories about character development, for some readers that might not be enough, but I will read every single book she writes.

Beautiful World, Where Are You is from the perspective of two women, Alice and Eileen, who are college friends. Alice has moved to Ireland after being institutionalized. While there, Alice meets Felix, who is an attractive but otherwise unappealing man of the working class. Eileen works for a literary magazine, and is essentially voluntarily poor on principle. Eileen is in love with her friend Simon and he’s in love with her, but they aren’t together because Eileen is conflicted by the person she thinks she should be and what she wants. Also, Simon sucks at communicating. The story alternates between the first person perspectives of Alice and Eileen and a series of letters sent between the two women. The novel follows the relationships of these four characters as the continually fight and make-up.

I’ve read all of Sally Rooney’s novels and yet I haven’t written a review about any them. Honestly, I’m not really sure how to write a review about Rooney’s books because when I summarize her books, they just sound horrible. Who would want to read it? There are so many reasons to dislike Rooney books and characters, but hey, I love them. The story itself is not why I keep coming back to her novels, her writing evokes an intangible ambiance that’s hard to capture.

Rooney reminds me of Pablo Picasso. Picasso spent the majority of his career learning how to paint in a classical style. Once he mastered that style he started to deconstruct it, creating the art he is most famous for today. Rooney has a degree in English from Trinity College Dublin and a MA in American Literature. Her novels have become the exemplary modern contemporary novel, by both emulating and deconstructing the style of preceding contemporary authors like Zadie Smith and David Foster Wallace. The themes are consistent with these early 2000’s novels, but the writing style is like social media — brief yet expressive. Rooney writes with fluidity about awkward topics. She lacks the elegance of the previous age, but she is the millennial voice.

Rooney’s books are very millennial — liberal, self-centered, and dramatic (I’m also a millennial, and guilty as charged). The characters in Beautiful World, Where Are You are never in any physical danger, but instead are eternally conflicted by inner turmoil that is a result of past trauma. The mess up their own lives through self-sabotage, lack of communication, and self-doubt.

Her characters are self-centered and the dialogue is terse and pointed. It’s both awkward to read but also easy to imagine a real millennial talking and acting like the people in Beautiful World, Where Are You. Her characters are so well developed and realistic that it’s like reading about your own questionable friend making bad decisions that are clearly not in their own self interest.

I’m not saying this is what every millennial is like this (I have many friends who outright reject the individualistic identity of a “Rooney” character), but it’s what the media pretends all millennial are like. The quintessential Rooney character is an unsatisfied millennial stereotype that is most frequently used in art and media as the millennial everyman. Is it healthy to read about people who are unhappy despite having met everyone of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Perhaps… maybe the novel speaks to the fact that money doesn’t buy happiness, but after finishing this book I recommend reading an educational book that puts the characters’ privilege in perspective.

I really liked this book, but like with every Rooney novel, it sits on the edge of love and hate. The style and polarity of Rooney novels reminds me of people’s visceral reactions to Catcher in the Rye. If you hate Cather in the Rye, (like my boyfriend and Whalemina) I’d stay far far away from Sally Rooney. Otherwise, I would highly recommend her novels.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whales Wailing Against Pretentious Books (WWAPB):

4/5 Whales. A Tail for the Ages.

Some people think her name is pronounced Wilhelmina, but that’s wrong. You may already be familiar with her work — Whalemina has guestwritten an article for Don’t Call Me Ishmael in her native tongue (which is enormous, by the way):

Don't Call Me Ishmael

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

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Read more

4 years ago · Sophia Williams and Dylan Black

Whalemina likes long swims on the beach, sea chanties, krill spice lattés, and when she’s feeling blue, she picks up a good nautical romance novel. She has a hard time relating to any human characters, but she tries.

She hates perfume and anyone who wears it. Her guilty pleasure is Ahab/Moby slash fiction. She never leaves a book un-fin-ished.

We at Don’t Call Me Ishmael welcome Whalemina aboard!

Although very few people read this book blog (thank you for reading!), I’m going to avoid talking about Peter Thiel, an obvious trap, and focus on his book Zero to One.

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future started as a collection of notes taken by Blake Masters taken during a class Peter Thiel gave at Stanford. The notes were compiled, edited, and refined in Zero to One, one of Silicon Valley’s bibles.  The book is divided into sections that are each 1-5 pages long that talk about different concepts and frameworks concerning start-ups, founders, and ideation.

I think this book has good advice:

“… a startup messed up at its foundation cannot be fixed”

“A board of three is ideal. Your board should never exceed five people, unless your company is publicly held.”

“The lesson for entrepreneurs is clear: if you want to create and capture lasting value, don’t build an undifferentiated commodity business.”

And some questionable and close-minded advice:

“So we instituted a blanket rule: pass on any company whose founders dressed up for pitch meetings.”

Zero to One is again another business book that is filled with mostly reasonable opinions with a couple of unreasonable opinions sprinkled in. Overall, the book is filled with very interesting insights about finding and creating successful start-ups. For example:

“First, only invest in companies that have the potential to return the value of the entire fund. (Even quite successful companies usually succeed on a more humble scale.) This leads to rule number two: because rule number one is so restrictive, there can’t be any other rules.”

Thiel points out that investing in start-ups like they are mutual funds, whereby you add companies to your profile that do a little of this and a little of that, is not a reasonable approach for a VC. If VCs wanted to make the same amount of money as a mutual fund, they would just buy stocks. Instead, VCs are taking riskier bets with the goal of making a shit-ton of money.  Thiel’s rule above implies that the best bets are companies that 1) have a humongous market and 2) have no competition.

I found Thiel’s discussions comparing companies that have competition and companies that own the whole market fascinating. He points out that monopolies play down their successes: “Framing itself as just another tech company allows Google to escape all sorts of unwanted attention.” Whereas, “Non-monopolists tell the opposite lie: ‘we’re in a league of our own’.” Using Thiel’s analysis, it is very easy to spot companies that are thriving and companies that are fighting to stay alive in the face of competition (eg. Facebook and Netflix).

It’s really impossible to summarize every idea in this book because it is itself a summary of Peter Thiel’s opinions. It is a very readable book even thought it has no internal narrative and is pretty much a long listicle. Thiel is an undeniably successful entrepreneur and Zero to One has some undeniably valuable tidbits.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whales’ Non-Binary Association (WNBA):

3.5/5 Whales. Enjoyable.

On Juneteenth is a short essay collection by Annette Gordon-Reed that focuses on Gordon-Reed’s convoluted love for Texas. The narrative is told through vignettes of Gordon-Reed’s life and brief history lessons. On Juneteenth was on the New York Times Top 10 books of 2021, but it’s definitely not in my top 10; not that it wasn’t good, or even that I didn’t learn anything, it’s just that the thesis and essays are not spectacularly written or particularly inventive.

This short book is an ode to Texas, the flawed state that Gordon-Reed loves. I grew up in California, so I was raised to think that Texas is filled with Republican heathens (as they are taught Californians are toxic hippies). But Gordon-Reed discusses why she loves Texas, not in spite of the flaws, but with respect for the state’s complex history. While reading On Juneteenth I learned to appreciate some of culture and history of the state. Gordon-Reed’s love for Texas mostly originates from her experiences growing up and living there; the stories that most epitomize her complex feelings are her focus.

Gordon-Reed’s most interesting essay in the series is her first, in which she describes her experience as the first black student at her school a couple years after Brown vs. Board of Education. The other essays in On Juneteenth are extremely topical. One essay talks about Black people’s complex relationships with other people of color in the United States. Specifically, Gordon-Reed writes about how Native Americans sold Black people into slavery. Gordon-Reed argues that it is a disservice to society to forget race conflicts between oppressed groups because it is a reminder of how power can create stratification within vulnerable groups. Another essay focuses on the lives of Black people in early America who were not slaves, and how their lack of representation in media and education is obstructive because it minimizes the roles of Black people in history and confines their role to slavery alone. Oh, and she talks about Juneteenth, it’s origin in history and her life.

Gordon-Reed also touches on some extremely on controversial topics, but then she skirts away from them without directly addressing them. For example, the internet, especially Twitter, cancels a new person every day because of their background, history, or non-radically left perspective. Gordon-Reed elaborates on this instinct by describing a contradiction — people want to believe their historical heroes are morally upright, although conventional opinions or actions from the hero’s time period may put them on the wrong side of the issue of race.

“People want the individuals form the past they admire to be “right” on the question of race — no matter how wrong they actually were — so that admiring such people poses no problem. The difficulty is that not many European-Americans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were what we could consider to be “right” on the question of race, which, at a minimum, requires believing in the equal humanity of African Americans” (Pg 116)

But instead of facing the contradiction head on and providing interesting insights about  how to deal with the conflict she says that she admires writers who tackle these topics and “Being a historian…requires a degree of detachment. (Pg 116) ”

It was Gordon-Reed’s explicit goal to use this essay collection to discuss Texas’s strengths and weaknesses:

“About the difficulties of Texas: Love does not require taking an uncritical stance toward the object of one’s affections. In truth, it often requires the opposite. We can’t be of real service to the hopes we have for places — people, ourselves included — without a clear-eyed assessment of their (and our)  strengths and weaknesses. That often demands a willingness to be critical, sometimes deeply so. How that is done matters, of course. Striking the right balance can be exceedingly hard. I hope I have achieved the proper equilibrium.” (Pg 141)

I think that this essay collection was extremely balanced, which is why it was underwhelming. I didn’t get very much out of it except that Texas is good in some ways. This essay collection does differentiate itself by not taking a radical perspective, it is not controversial or particularly exciting. It exists in a state of nuance; it does not take a stance. So, in other words, it’s pretty boring. And simultaneously refreshing in this world of hyper-polarized media.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whales Center-Left of the Pacific:

3/5 Whales. Readable.

I purchased this book because of one of the book review tags they have at Books Inc. This one said something along the lines of: “An enemies to lovers romance with a HAWT vampire lead.” I’ve loved vampire romances since I read Twilight in 2005 along with every other tween girl. I walked out that book store excited (ew, don’t be gross).  Sadly, the book review in Books Inc. was the best part about this novel.

King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair is about a young, cranky, and defiant woman named Isolde who lives in a castle where she is pampered by her maid and her father. Isolde’s father has recently surrendered the Kingdom to the Blood King to avoid a devastating war.

While Isolde is wandering around the castle, unescorted, (because she is a true rebel) she is attacked by an evil strzyga. Isolde defeats the beast with her sword because she’s a bad ass b***h, who learned to fight with all the boys in the castle. Isolde is a woman who can take care of herself and doesn’t need a sexy vampire man.

But as she’s bleeding everywhere from a poisonous scratch from the strzyga, a gorgeous blond man shows up and licks her wounds, magically healing them. I’m sure you can’t guess who it is. God, this plot synopsis hurts to write.

This secret sexy vampire man, shows up and reveals he is actually Adrien, the Blood King (I almost expired from shock here). Then he demands that Isolde become his wife or he will destroy Lara, the capital of her country. Isolde grudgingly agrees. She thinks Adrien is disgusting because he’s a vampire, but he’s also inexplicably sexy for some reason. And he keeps getting sexier, like it’s magic or something…

Before even leaving the castle or being married, Adrien and Isolde bang. To say that their relationship is unappealing is like saying eating an orange with its skin on is un-a-peel-ing (get it?). I like a steamy romance, but the writing is so cheesy. Adrien literally says, “‘I only wish to spoil you,’ he said. ‘Though you look beautiful in any form — covered in blood or writhing beneath me (pg 317).’ Ugh.

When Isolde gets whisked away to the vampires’ city in Revekka, she discovers everything she’s ever learned about vampires and witches is a lie. She slowly falls in love with Adrien, despite trying desperately to resist him. She even tries to assassinate him, because her father and her maid tell her she should — she tries once, with a tiny knife.

The author has a penchant for elaborate descriptions of outfits. Not only are the outfits described in detail, but it’s revealed that Adrien designed the dresses. On Isolde’s coronation day: “Violetta helped me into my dress, which was designed by Adrien. It was black, fitted from the bodice to my hips, where it flared into a full skirt. Appliques in a deeper shade of black curled like shadow in strategic places around my breasts, my hips, and the hem. The neckline was cut low and a collar necklace only drew more attention (pg 359).” Imagine that, but for every dress Isolde wears. Is this vampire king moonlighting on Project Runway?

Honestly, the “plot” twist was obvious from the first hint.  “Your blood is truly a homecoming,” says Adrien, cryptically. There were so many obvious clues that Isolde was secretly a reincarnated witch from Adrien’s past. There is a difference between foreshadowing and lazy writing, Scarlett.

However, not all of the book was predictable — the last 100 pages were crazy and disjointed. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen because nothing made any sense. Scenes ended and began so quickly, it was like watching Tik Tok. For example, Isolde tells her dad that she is Adrien’s only weakness (which is supposed to be a big secret). Here’s a summary of the next six pages:

Isolde’s father tries to murder her and then Isolde commits patricide.

After Isolde cries over her father’s body for about 2 seconds, the the evil witch Ravena appears.

Isolde and Ravena battle and Ravena is defeated.

The scene ends with Isolde screaming really loudly.

“I screamed.

I raged.

I broke every mirror left in the hallway, and when I was finished, I made my way upstairs, to the top of the tower. There, I sank to the ground to rest beneath the red sky of Revekka, and I knew this was the pain that would make me into a monster. (pg. 378)”

Gag me with a spoon. At least it was short.

Romance novels are often predictable, which often makes them enjoyable and fun to read. This book made me cringe, it made me guffaw, and I slammed it closed multiple times in protest. I would never burn a book, but I might have considered it for a hot second. I’m proud of myself for finishing it.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by the Whales for Ethical Treatment of Krill (WET-K):

1.5/5 Whales.

I LOVED the parts about the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. As a 90’s kid, I grew up watching reruns of the Fresh Prince. Will Smith was the epitome of cool. I loved the opening song to the show — I used it in one of the only obligatory school performances I actually enjoyed. We changed the lyrics to tell the story of Romeo & Juliet and performed it in front of our parents (sorry, mom) and our classmates. Fortunately for you, the lyrics have been lost to time, specifically, to the demise of my dial-up desktop windows computer from the early 2000s.

The authors make a joke about how the reader probably thought the memoir would start with the premiere of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Honestly, I did think it was going to start with Smith’s TV Show, and I probably would have enjoyed the book more if it did. However, it was important for the narrative to have a beginning, middle, climax, and end. These plot elements are represented by Smith’s early childhood, the rise of his career, his divorce and “After Earth” (one of the worst movies ever), and an emotional resolution. The beginning, middle, and climax were well crafted and very engaging. However, the book’s ending did not have a clear moral or direction. In fact, there were three different endings, none of which were cohesive, including one where Will does Ayahuasca.

It’s apparent that Smith is proud of his accomplishments.  It’s impressive how Smith is able to tout his own awesomeness without seeming condescending; this is accomplished by sandwiching his successes between a smile and a laugh. One of his talents is that he is a likable braggart. This comes across in the book, because I was constantly laughing and smiling.

Smith’s success is a combination of talent, luck, and planning — he puts a lot of time into understanding the movie industry and makes conscious decisions to enhance his career. He understands he is a commodity and he markets himself accordingly.  The memoir Will is extremely consistent with Smith’s brand; there is no question that this book is biased and intentionally tells Will’s story as a hero’s journey. Smith understands that the most successful and interesting narratives follow a specific formula; he admits this in the memoir when he discusses his favorite books “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho and “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”  by Joseph Campbell.

I appreciate that Smith did not ghost his ghost writer. You, like me, may be wondering: who is Mark Manson?  Mark Manson is a self-help writer and blogger most well known for his book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Mark Manson spent 3 years with Will Smith helping him write his memoir.

I think a lot of memoirs written by ghostwriters are really great. Examples include: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (ghost written by J.R. Moehringer) and I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb. Ghostwriters can be extremely talented.  If you’re interested, you can get your novel ghostwritten through fiverr. No promises about the quality.

This book was really great and increased my conviction that Will Smith is awesome. I only have one major complaint about Will: as someone from Trinidad and Tobago, I can tell you Smith’s Tobagonian accent in the audiobook is bad and generic — he should have gotten an accent trainer.  Overall, it was an excellent read about a talented actor/musician/creator.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whale Smith (WS, no relation):

4/5 Whales. A Tail for the Ages.

Just like most people, I am a fan of a good “trashy” fantasy novel every once in a while. This one was pretty good. The story follows Rachel Morgan, a bounty hunter, who decides to leave her government job. However, she can’t just quit, as this company holds a deadly grudge. Rachel needs to clear the resulting bounty on her head so that she can start her own freelance business.

There is a comedic pixie sidekick, a kickass vampire sidekick, a geeky librarian sidekick, and an older warlock sidekick. It was honestly a lot of sidekicks, but it was nice to see a heroine solving crimes with a team.  Rachel has a lot of attributes of a classic fantasy heroine. She seems dumb at times but is naturally skilled, charismatic, and things generally go her way. Even though this trope is tried, it’s one of my favorites. I can’t help but enjoy reading about Rachel’s crazy experiences that frequently result from her own incompetence (e.g. she gets trapped as a mink because she doesn’t plan ahead).

The author is sometimes long-winded, with seemingly irrelevant subplots that are clearly set-ups for the next book. Some characters appear just briefly but are clearly going to appear in the future (eg. Kisten). I read a couple of these books about 10 years ago and vaguely remember exciting things happening with Kisten ;).

This was a quick, entertaining read. Dead Witch Walking is one of Kim Harrison’s first books and I willing to bet that they only get better. I’d put money on it, and will definitely be buying the next book in the series. I’ll let you know what I think!

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by Whales in The Coastal’s H2O (WITCH):

3.5/5 Whales - Enjoyable.

This book was full of interesting facts but the internal narrative and focus were boring. The Great Influenza focuses on scientists experiences and how they persevered under pressure to find a cure; but, I hate to say it, the scientists fail hard-core. This might be a spoiler, scientists weren’t able to create a vaccine in time to help with the most virulent cycles of the flu. They pretty much fumble around, go down unrelated tangents, find RNA (granted that’s pretty important), and eventually, years later, figure out that influenza is caused by a virus. This is a revelation Barry tries to make suspenseful, but is actually revealed in the first couple of chapters of the book. Plus, all of his modern day readers already know this.

This book focuses on a couple scientists but also gives a general overview of most of the scientific contributions of the time. The main character of the first half of the book is William H. Welch, who is actually irrelevant, even though Barry tries to make him seem important. When Welch is introduced,  Barry literally says that Welch’s life is not that interesting, and then proceeds to talk about him for the next 4/19 hrs of the audiobook. Later, it’s revealed that Welch actually didn’t do anything to help find a vaccine for the Spanish Flu, he was just influential in improving medical schools and legitimizing the field before 1918. That’s important and all, but only seems vaguely related to the topic, which I thought was supposed to be INFLUENZA, not medical schools.

The most interesting parts of the book were about societies’ reactions to the flu, as well as how it spread throughout different populations and cultures. It was pretty crazy to learn that science really didn’t contribute much at all to eradicating 1918 influenza. The virus just mutated enough to no longer be as contagious and life threatening. So in the end, everyone just had to wait it out.

This is a horrible moral for a story, but life isn’t a morality play. And so, Barry tries to bring the narrative back to science because he believes in the importance of medicine. And Barry does this by talking about the scientist Oswald Avery, who was ostracized for studying influenza for too many years while spending a lot of money and not finding any meaningful results. Yet Avery persisted, and was finally rewarded with a significant scientific result before passing away. Barry argues that Avery didn’t get the credit he deserves for his contributions to science before his death under scientifically embarrassing circumstances (he’s rumored to have given himself yellow fever via a cut while smoking a cigarette).

Why does Avery deserve an award? Barry does not do a great job arguing Avery’s merits.  Avery is an objectively mediocre person. He left his wife to study yellow fever and influenza because he was obsessed with his research. Barry puts this type of hyper-focused scientific selfishness on a pedestal, when really there are tons of scientists in similar circumstances who don’t make any meaningful contributions. Avery was lucky (and also unlucky because of the yellow fever mishap). Like Welch, Avery wasn’t that interesting but he was another 4/19 hrs of the audiobook.

I think you will learn things (I learned a lot) if you read this book. It was fascinating to compare  our experiences with Covid-19 to the 1918 pandemic. Just be warned, the book is interesting but the focus on scientists’ perspectives makes the narrative more narrow and dry than would have been ideal.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by The Collective of Whale Clinicians (The CWC):

3/5 Whales. Readable.

5 - A Whale of A Novel

4.5 - Way Better than Moby Dick

4 - A Tail for the Ages

3.5 - Enjoyable

3 - Readable/Pleasantly Diverting

2.5 - Readable

2 - It blows

1.5 - A Bad Tail

1 - Moby-Dick

List of Book Reviews:

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (5/5)

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (5/5)

There, There by Tommy Orange (5/5)

Death’s End by Cixin Liu (4.5/5)

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (4.5/5)

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (4/5)

City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty (4/5)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab (4/5)

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (4/5)

Will by Will Smith and Mark Manson (4/5)

The Buried Giant by Kazuro Ishiguro (3.5/5)

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal (3.5/5)

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison (3.5/5)

The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal (3.5/5)

The Witness of the Dead by Katherine Addison (3.5/5)

Zero to One by Peter Thiel (3.5/5)

Artemis by Andy Weir (3/5)

The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho (3/5)

The Great Influenza by John M. Barry (3/5)

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed (3/5)

Vladimir by Julia May Jones (3/5)

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle (2.5/5)

Get Good with Money by Tiffany Aliche (2.5/5)

The Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (2.5/5)

Stranger to the Moon by Evelio Rosero (2.5/5)

Sex, Cult, Nun by Faith Jones (2/5)

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (2/5)

The King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair (1.5/5)

The story opens as Mona walks into the bakery to start her morning shift only to find a dead body on the floor. After reporting the murder, Mona is unjustly arrested as a suspect and it is revealed that there is an evil villain is hunting and killing wizards.

The book has no romance, only plot, intrigue, and war. Mona’s uses her abilities to manipulate bread and dough in creative and unexpected ways in order to defeat her enemies. The writing is hilarious and clever; Mona animates gingerbread, creates stepping stones on water to escape attackers, and so much more.

Mona is a great young magical role-model. Unlike many heroines, Mona isn’t naturally imbued with incredible power. There are many scenes where she is shown practicing her abilities and reading books to learn new skills. Mona also collaborates with others to create and execute plans. She is not a lone warrior, and that makes this book more entertaining because the other characters are very fun. The clever thief, protective aunt, and crazy horse necromancer are just a few.

Also, we can’t forget Bob. Bob is Mona’s disgruntled but loving sourdough starter. The fact that Bob sometimes eats stray rodents in Mona’s basement is almost more endearing than it is creepy. I love the cast of characters; I love the innovative story; I’m now scared of my sourdough starter.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by World Wide Whale Wizards (WWWW):

4.5/5. Way better than Moby Dick.

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul and and Brendan Moynihan is about Paul’s experience loosing a million dollars while trading lumber. Most financial books focus on what it takes to make a million dollars, “We’ve all read them, but if the “how-to” books were that beneficial, we’d all be rich. (Preface, i)” Instead, Paul reframes the how-to question, he looks at how-to … not lose a million dollars.

The writing in the beginning of the book is meant to provide context for Paul’s ultimate downfall but it is painful to read; Paul is not likable and doesn’t try to convince the reader otherwise.

Paul always wanted to be rich; his desire for wealth, and to appear wealthy, influenced all decisions in his life. As a teenager he became a knowledgeable gambler because he found it was an easy way to make some money on the side. Paul does not value the status quo and believes rules are arbitrary. For example, instead of rushing his fraternity, he just told the frat that he was joining.

His childhood and his initial success in business after college, made Paul think he was better than everyone else; when actually, he was  just luckier than everyone else.  Paul’s background story is painfully generic, but what’s really shocking is the bad writing in the first half of the book. This is an example:

“They also all had Bass Weejuns. I didn’t even know what a Bass Weejun was—it’s a style of shoe. Everybody in Lexington wore Bass Weejuns. I had no money, no good clothes, and no Bass Weejuns. (pg 12)”

These are  Bass Weejuns for context:

They’re nothing to call home about, in my opinion; unless you like screaming over loafers for some reason. Paul also has an obsession with the word “neat”, as in “cool”. It shows up 8 times in the first 10 pages in the book. It really stands out, along with the large quantity of 5-6 word sentences.

The book is written by both Jim Paul and Brendan Moynihan. It’s my opinion that Jim Paul wrote the first half of the book, as the style is very colloquial and it focuses on Paul’s early life. The second half of the book, when the authors actually give advice and discuss the financial market, is when Moynihan takes over. The tone of the book completely changes; the writing style becomes more precise and the sentences become twice as long. The entire book is written in the first person, which implies a singular voice, but second half has more grandiose statements, general claims, and the more instances of the pronoun “we”.  This further emphasizes that the primary writer changes halfway through the book.

Most of the summaries of this book I see online, spend a lot of time discussing Paul’s story instead of the actual advice in the book.  At the end of the day, most of the advice can be summarized very concisely and the first half of the book is completely irrelevant except that it provides a human element, which makes the advice seem more useful.

The main points of the book are:

1. If you don’t have a plan, you are gambling. You should know how much you are willing to lose and when and for how much you will sell for.

2. Almost all approaches to playing the market can work if you have a plan and stick to it.

3. Once you have invested money, taken a short, etc. you are now emotionally invested and are no longer a rational actor. All further decisions you make are biased.

If you’re intrigued by this summary, I would say give the book a read.  It is only 171 pages! However, I won’t say that the book provides much more information than I summarized above. Even though this book claims it is different from other how-to finance books, it still lacks specificity or actual trade secrets. Details don’t sell books, witticisms and generalizations do — this “neat” book has both in abundance.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by 500 Sperm Whales and Physeteridae (SW&P 500):

3.5/5 Whales. Enjoyable.

There, There is a novel about the experiences of several Native American people before and during a fictional attack at a pow-wow in Oakland. Even though each of the characters only appears in 2-3 chapters, they are extremely vivid and distinct. It was so evocative, I googled to confirm that There, There was genuine fiction and not based on real events. The overall feeling of the book is well described by an analogy within the book itself. One of the characters, Dene Oxendene, is directing a documentary about Indian experiences. His gimmick is to set up the camera, leave the room, and allow Native People to tell their stories, unedited and unsupervised. Each of the vignettes in There, There feels like a real person’s story, told without editing or censorship, raw with intensity.

The main body of the text is divided into four parts, titled: “Remain”, “Reclaim”, “Return”, and “Pow-wow”. The chapters mostly, but not wholly, occur in chronological order. Unlike most novels, There, There has both a prologue and interlude. These two sections are unique in style compared to the other sections — they are written more like poetry than prose — and they create a framing narrative that grounds the story within the context of Native American experiences in modern society and culture. The prelude focuses on the modern urban experience of  Native peoples:  “We ride buses, trains, and cars across, over, and under concrete plains. Being Indian has never been about returning to the land. The land is everywhere or nowhere.” (pg. 11)

The prelude and interlude also provide an avenue to directly discuss the themes of the novel and, consequently, the intent and opinions of the author. For example, in the interlude, Orange rants about people’s lack of perspective and awareness concerning violent attacks:

“A shooter. As many times as it happens, as we see it happen on our screens, we still walk around in our lives thinking: No, not us, that happens to them, the people on the other side of the screen, the victims, their families, we don’t know those people, we don’t even know people who know those people, we’re once and twice removed from most of what we see on the other side of the screen, especially that awful man, always a man, we watch and feel the horror, the unbelievable act, for a day, for two whole days, for a week, we post and click links and like and don’t like and repost and then, and then it’s like it didn’t happen, we move on, the next thing comes.”

Orange’s words are shocking because they simultaneously elicit rage and guilt. This intensity is representative of the style of the entire novel. The tension continually escalates after a Chekhov’s gun, in the form of a 3D printed gun, is placed in the scene in Chapter 1.

In both the prologue and interlude, Orange uses the pronoun “we” with liberty. Who is “we”?  All people, or all Native Peoples, or all allies? By using “we”, Orange implies that he himself is part of this group that does not do enough, or care enough, about the plight of others. Orange also indicates that the ideas and thoughts he presents are not just his own, and similarly, the onus is not just his.

I highlighted more in this book than any book I’ve read in a long time, as you may be able to tell from the large number of quotes in this post. The novel follows the story of heroes, villains, and victims (many of the characters fall into multiple buckets). Orange does not try to justify villainous decisions, or put heroes on a pedestal, instead he lets the characters’ backgrounds, motivations, and actions speak for themselves. The reader is permitted to peek inside the complex internal thoughts of his (fictional) characters. I wanted to know more about each character; the book could have been twice as long (although I would have been even more hesitant about reading it because 600 page books are scary (eg. Moby Dick)). There, There is passionate and intense; I highly recommend it.

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael Official Book Rating, Sponsored by What Would Moby Dick Do (WWMDD):

5/5. A Whale of a Tale.