Reviews and Comments

Gary Chapman has a very American confidence in his "Love Languages" hypotheses and illustrates it with many examples. Personally I believe there is something to it, though I think the classification is a bit arbitrary and we are all on a spectrum for each "love language". For a higher rating I would have preferred more scientific backing and clinical evidence instead of the almost too many anecdotal examples, though that's typical of American self-help books and this one holds up pretty well for its age. Expept maybethe Christian focus couples of men and women. But I thinke everybody can learn a thing or two.

Fungi are incredibly interesting and this book does them justice. It does an excellent job of describing their importance and the hidden connections between Fungi and plants, but also Fungi and humans. And it's written in a way that you feel close to the author, as he takes us on this journey.

I just wished there was more. More about different kinds of Fungi, more about recent science, about the importance of Fungi in different cultures etc. But I assume this is just no the scope and also not the ambition of this book, it's not meant to be an intro into mycology.

If I could I would give it 4.5 stars. It was very interesting and it made me want to dig more fungi related books, but it was not perfect. E.g. I felt a bit less invested than when reading "Never Home Alone" by Rob Dunn last year and which is another biology popular science book talking about life that is normal hidden from us. Not sure why I preferred that, maybe it's the quality of the prose, maybe it felt more scientific and more complete. So as a nitpicky German I feel hesitant to give a perfect score, so 4 it is. But I'll definitely watch out for new books from Merlin Sheldrake.

#fungi #books #entangledlife #merlinsheldrake #popularscience #biology

I finished the "TTMIK First 500 Korean Words" Anki flaskcard deck a while ago and am doing the level 3 grammar lessons of "Talk To Me In Korean" (TTMIK), but I really should start incorporate more easy Korean reading rather than focusing on isolated Anki vocabulary. Decided to give this a go.

#Korean

"Human Acts" had a deep impact on me and is one of my favourite books, therefore I would like to eventually read "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang

This book caught my attention in th bookstore due to the cover (I love magpies) but my girfriendewho had read "The Vegetarian" recommended the author. The author managed to create a deep connection between me and the characters, I felt their hope and tragedy, like I have rarely experienced. And I learned a chapter of Korean history that I had not known about, but that is only on the side, this is not a Korean history book. Anyway, this changed how I view news of conflict and war, e.g. recently the Ukraine war. Usually I am a very rational and not the most empathetic person, I followed the war from a point of view of military strategy and tactics, but this book encouraged me to think about all the suffering, all the courage and anl the "human acts" that are hidden from puplic view but surely must be happening.

This book caught my attention in th bookstore due to the cover (I love magpies) but my girfriendewho had read "The Vegetarian" recommended the author. The author managed to create a deep connection between me and the characters, I felt their hope and tragedy, like I have rarely experienced. And I learned a chapter of Korean history that I had not known about, but that is only on the side, this is not a Korean history book. Anyway, this changed how I view news of conflict and war, e.g. recently the Ukraine war. Usually I am a very rational and not the most empathetic person, I followed the war from a point of view of military strategy and tactics, but this book encouraged me to think about all the suffering, all the courage and anl the "human acts" that are hidden from puplic view but surely must be happening.

Got interested in the book "The Dopamine Nation" after listening to the hidden brain podcast episode The Paradox of Pleasure, in which the author was interviewed. Probably would have not picked it up in the bookstore otherwise as the message seems clickbaity and obvious, I though that I don't need a book to tell me that modern technology and (social) are designed to make us addicted via dopamine spirals. But the podcast was more interesting than expected and I could identify with some addiction-like behaviors (which I only escaped from due to my partner and friends), so I thought I should give it a shot and I might learn something adaptable to my own life.

Got it for free in English in an open bookshelf and feel incredibly lucky. From LeGuin so far I only read "The Left Hand of Darkness", which I really enjoyed, the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and the collection "The Unreal and the Real Volume 2: Outer Space & Inner Lands"