Dinara Tengri

Say goodbye to summer! No love lost there.  I honestly don't find anything to love about summer. This season, especially, has been a little slow in regards to being active and doing stuff. Mostly, I found myself binging old shows on Netflix and reading some. It's been hot. Very, very hot. And when the temperature reaches a certain degree, I turn into one of those boa constrictors that just lie motionless for days on end. Didn't do much blogging either. What I did do this summer was buy a whole lot of books.   But first, let's take a look at the August reviews: A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick The Last Question , by Isaac Asimov (audiobook) Suicide Squad (Movie review) Stranger Things: Season 1 (Netflix review) ... And now to the July-August Bookhaul. I bought a total of ten books, three of them are in Swedish, the rest in English. A Medicine For Melancholy , by Ray Bradbury Technically, it's my brother's book. But we share. And we b...

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday, a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This week's topic is Back To School. For some, school means math. Lots and lots of math. And science. But neither have to be a reason for anxiety if you just find the right book or the right person to break them down to you gently. Here are ten books and Youtube channels that make math and science simple and exciting for us mere mortals . Books   1. The Maths Handbook: Everyday Maths Made Simple , by Richard Elwes The title is pretty self-explanatory. And it's true too. There was a time when I feared and hated math. This book was one of the things that changed that. 2. The Simpsons And Their Mathematical Secrets , by Simon Singh The fact that so many of the original writers on The Simpsons have math degrees just makes me love this show more. In this book, Singh tells us how these bright individuals ended up in the Simpsons' writers room, and explains some of the m...

One thing I don't review too often on this blog is short stories. In fact, it seems to me that short story is the most unappreciated form of literature, especially on book blogs. Which is kind of sad, considering how rich and diverse it really is.  So to rectify the situation (sort of), I decided to review a short story by one my favourite authors - Isaac Asimov. It's titled The Last Question and it was first published in an issue of Science Fiction Quarterly in 1956. The reason I chose this story is because it was Asimov's own personal favourite. In this story, humanity becomes dependant on a super intelligent computer called Multivac. Our friend Multivac has made interstellar travel possible, allowing humanity to leave Earth and spread out across the Universe. But there is a threat that our fictionalised descendants may eventually come face to face with. And that is the heat death of the Universe . What will happen t...

So last week, I was going to post a new book review... and then I went down with a bad case of flu. A couple of sleepless nights later, and all I have to show for is yet another top ten list. Well, that's not entirely true. My scheduled review for Isaac Asimov's short story, The Last Question is almost finished, and I'm planning on posting it sometime this week.   For now, a Top Ten Tuesday will do. It's a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish . And this week, I'm going with my own topic, and listing ten book series that I want to finish (someday). Some of the books in the series I've already reviewed, and you'll find the links to those reviews down below.      1. Newbury and Hobbs , by George Mann Still waiting for that fifth book - The Revenant Express, to arrive. The last book ended on a cliffhanger, and this one is supposed to take place in Siberia (change of scenery), so there's a lot to look f...

Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . This week I'm listing ten science fiction books that I've read (and liked) that take on different planets (or moons) in our Solar System.    I had a bit of problem with this list. Some of these books take place on more than one planet. But I had to choose anyway, so here's what I have ended up with.       Mercury 1. Trouble With Tycho , by Clifford D. Simak     2. 2312 , by Kim Stanley Robinson    Venus 3. Space Merchants , by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth         4. All Summer In A Day , by Ray Bradbury      Earth   5. The Caves Of Steel , by Isaac Asimov         The Moon 6. The Gods Themselves , by Isaac Asimov   7. Double Star , by Robert A. Heinlein     Mars 8. The Martian Chronicles , by ...

A young boy disappears on his way home in a small American town. A mysterious young girl in a hospital gown is being chased by men in suits. A secret science lab runs experiments that point to a larger government conspiracy. And in the middle of all the terror and cover-ups, there are people who are trying to live their lives. Stranger Things is a Netflix original show created by the Duffer Brothers and it markets itself as a tribute to the classic1980's sci fi and horror culture. I finally saw the entire first season, and a few things immediately stuck out for me, in regards to the show's originality. There is a fine line between paying homage to a book or a movie, and making a blatant rip off. And oftentimes, Stranger Things crosses this line. Some fans and critics have already said, that the writers of this show rely too heavily on nostalgia and on the source material they're supposed to be paying homage to. While recognising some...

Let's talk about Suicide Squad. An unholy mess of a film with fantastic characters and a whole basket of easter eggs for the die hard Batman and DC fans. I was looking forward to seeing this movie ever since the first trailer had come out. While not a fan of the new DC movie universe, I was very excited for Suicide Squad. The trailers made it look different than any other comic book movie I had seen before. And I was very optimistic about Jared Leto's Joker. And now that I've seen it, I feel like I have a few things to say about this movie. This will not be a legitimate review, it's just me sharing some of my thoughts about this movie . Therefore I apologise in advance for the unstructured randomness of this post. First things first: Jared Leto and Margot Robbie stole the show as Joker and Harley Quinn. They had this interesting story going on throughout the movie, with Harley's origin story and their abusive relationship. I loved Leto's Joker. He was t...

It's time for a Top Ten Tuesday. Time to list some titles. This week I want to talk about intimidating books . Books (or book series) that I have been putting off for years, partially because they're so mind-boggingly big. And in the case of book series, because they're so frigging long. I'm not saying that I'm dying to read all of these books, but I am curious about them. Curious enough to feature them on this list. I guess I'm not easily intimidated by anything, because I could only find eight books/series.  Oh, and all credit for creating this meme goes to The Broke and the Bookish .  1. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien        2. Culture Series by Iain M. Banks       3. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin        4. Dune Chronicles   by Frank Herbert and Brian Herbert   I actually own the first book in the series, so technically it's on my T...

"Welcome to Delmak-O! It's a world filled with mysteries and incredible possibilities. You are here because you have applied for a transfer from your most recent employment. Perhaps you were dissatisfied with your previous occupation, and felt that you needed change. Perhaps you feel that your life lacks direction and you see yourself as a failure for not achieving your life goals (that is, if you had any to begin with) We know that what you seek is purpose . Rejoice! Because your prayers have been answered and you have been selected along with thirteen other purposeless lucky individuals to be the first to settle the mysterious virgin world of Delmak-O. As per our request, you have arrived here in a disposable, one-way craft, called a noser. We hope you will find your new accommodations in our camp satisfactory.  Pay no attention to the large structures in the jungle, Their purpose will be revealed to you in due time. Do not be alarmed by the me...

Another Tuesday is upon us. Which means, it's time to arrange some random books in a list according to a pre-selected theme. I'm talking about Top Ten Tuesday - a weekly book meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . A little announcement before we get started: the amazing girls of Book Bloggers International have published my essay - The Shining vs. The Shining , where I analyse the differences between one of my favourite books and its famous movie adaptation .   This week's list falls under the "wishful thinking" category, and it's a list of ten books I would buy this instant if I had a fully loaded gift card . As far as imaginary me is concerned, the amount of money is unlimited.   This was a particularly difficult list for me to come up with, because if I had an unlimited amount of money, I wouldn't settle on just ten books. So I thought that if I had to narrow it down to ten books, they'd have to be pretty...