I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Recent startling successes in machine intelligence using a technique called ‘deep learning’ seem to blur the line between human and machine as never before. Are computers on the cusp of becoming so intelligence that they will render humans obsolete? Harry Collins argues we are getting ahead of ourselves, caught up in images of a fantastical future dreamt up in fictional portrayals. The greater present danger is that we lose sight of the very real limitations of artificial intelligence and readily enslave ourselves to stupid computers: the ‘Surrender’.

By dissecting the intricacies of language use and meaning, Collins shows how far we have to go before we cannot distinguish between the social understanding of humans and computers. When the stakes are so high, we need to set the bar higher: to rethink ‘intelligence’ and recognise its inherent social basis. Only if machine learning succeeds on this count can we congratulate ourselves on having produced artificial intelligence.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Harry Collins is a sociologist and Distinguished Research Professor at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences. This thought-provoking book takes a deep dive into what we mean by ‘intelligence’ and what it takes to pass the Turing Test, arguing that despite extraordinary developments in artificial intelligence, the Singularity is not at hand but we are in danger of fooling ourselves that it is and thus surrendering to ‘stupid’ machines.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

I am Layla Kareem Abdul-Hafiz Hussein, the greatest Sudanese Australian inventor the world has ever seen. And if they don’t know my name yet, they soon will. Inshallah!

School’s out for the summer! And Layla’s going to spend it getting her inventions ready for the grand design competition. But when her grandmother falls ill and her family must rush to Sudan to be with her, Layla feels like she’s being pulled in many different directions.

Family, friends, home, inventions - there’s a lot to navigate. With big protests looming in Sudan, could Layla save the day with her revolutionary ideas?

Exploring the diaspora experience, Listen, Layla is an own voices novel for young readers bursting with passion, humour and truth.

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The Verdict:

Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s sequel to YOU MUST BE LAYLA is a solid contemporary book for readers aged 12+ that gives insight into the diaspora experience and what’s happening in Sudan. I enjoyed Layla’s enthusiasm and ambition for inventing while the scenes involving her family convey the difference in generational attitudes really well but I would have liked more dialogue between Layla and her parents on what she wants and why it’s important to her.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

In October 1943, with the outcome of the Second World War hanging in the balance, the Allies needed a new plan. The Americans’ audacious suggestion to the Soviets was to open a second air front, with the US Air Force establishing bases in Soviet-controlled territory. Despite Stalin’s obvious reservations about the presence of foreign troops in Russia, he was persuaded, and in early 1944 Operation Baseball and then Frantic were initiated as B-17 Flying Fortresses were flown from bases in Italy to the Poltava region in today’s Ukraine.

Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy tells the gripping, little-known story of this encounter between American and Soviet soldiers and how their collaboration quickly fell apart, anticipating the transition from the Grand Alliance to the Cold War. Soviet secret policemen watched over the Americans, shadowing their every move. A catastrophic air raid by the Germans revealed the limitations of Soviet air defences. As their initial enthusiasm turned into disappointment, the American soldiers started calling themselves the Forgotten Bastards of Ukraine. Ultimately, no common purpose could overcome their cultural and political differences.

Drawing on newly opened KGB and FBI records, Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front offers a riveting bottom-up history of one of the Second World War’s most unlikely alliances.

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The Verdict:

Serhii Plokhy is Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, director of its Ukrainian Research Institute and a leading authority on Eastern Europe. This absorbing, very readable book looks at a forgotten period in World War II when Stalin permitted the USA to operate 3 airbases in the Ukraine between April 1944 and June 1945 and makes a convincing case for how the US/Soviet experience there fuelled the start of the Cold War.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Most of us crave new experiences and sensations. Whether it’s our attraction to that new burger place or the latest gadget, newness tugs at us. But what about those who can’t seem to get enough? They jump out of planes, climb skyscrapers, and will anything (even poisonous pufferfish) … Prompting others to ask “what’s wrong” with them. These are sensation-seekers and they crave intense experiences, despite physical or social risk. They don’t have a death wish, but seemingly a need for an adrenaline rush, no matter what.

Buzz! describes the world of the high sensation-seeking personality in a way that we can all understand. It explores the lifestyle, psychology, and neuroscience behind adrenaline junkies and daredevils. This tendency, or compulsion, has a role in our culture. But where is the line between healthy and unhealthy thrill-seeking? The minds of these adventurers are explained page by page.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Kenneth Carter is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Oxford College, Emory University in the USA. This very easy to read book delves into the psychology of why some people engage in thrill-seeking behaviour (e.g. BASE jumping, eating exotic and potentially deadly foods or sky diving). I found it fascinating and came away with more of an understanding for what drives people to do these things and what they gain from it.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Mr Men Little Miss
The Royal Party

Little Miss Helpful is organising a very special party. A street party with Little Miss Princess as the guest of honour, no less!

But Little Miss Helpful isn’t as good at organising things as her name would suggest and so it isn’t long before things start to go wrong, especially once Little Miss Naughty gets involved!

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The Verdict:

Based on his father Roger Hargreaves’s hugely successful LITTLE MISS and MR MEN SERIES, Adam Hargreaves’s self-illustrated picture book has all the charm and silly humour of the original books and although it’s aimed to tie in with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, works on its own merits aside from that. I particularly enjoyed Little Miss Naughty’s devilish cunning and how things nevertheless come good at the end.

MR MEN & LITTLE MISS - THE ROYAL PARTY was released in the United Kingdom on 28th April 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

For those who are new to philosophy the methodology for philosophical thinking may seem almost mystical.

And yet the processes are more familiar than we may initially fear.

Drawing on examples throughout the history of philosophy’s successes and failures, Timothy Williamson demonstrates how philosophy begins with common-sense curiosity, and develops through our capacity to dispute rationally with each other.

As he shows, philosophy can clarify our thoughts. This depends on the development of philosophical theories, which can be tested by imaginative thought experiments, and compared against each other by standards like those in science. Overturning the widely held dogma of the special nature of philosophy, Williamson unravels its methods, uncovers both their power and their limitations, and assesses the future of philosophy.

From thought experiments to deduction to theories, this little book will make you rethink what philosophy is.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Timothy Williamson is the Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford University. His book aims to explain how to do philosophy well by cantering through various schools, including the history and science of philosophy, to set out how they approach problems. I found some parts (e.g. the history sections) easier to follow than others (notably the logic section) but if you’re thinking of studying philosophy it’s definitely worth a look.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

In MI5 a scandal is brewing and there are bad actors everywhere.

A key member of a Downing Street think tank has disappeared without trace. Claude Wheelan, one-time First Desk of MI5’s Regent’s Park, is tasked with tracking her down. But the trail leads straight back to Regent’s Park HQ itself, with its chief, Diana Taverner, as prime suspect. Meanwhile her Russian counterpart has unexpectedly shown up in London but has slipped under MI5’s radar.

Over at Slough House, the home for demoted and embittered spies, the slow horses are doing what they do best: adding a little bit of chaos to an already unstable situation.

In a world where lying, cheating and back-stabbing are the norm, bad actors are bending the rules for their own gain. If the slow horses want to change the script, they’ll need to get their own act together before the final curtain.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The 8th in Mick Herron’s SLOUGH HOUSE SERIES uses a missing person case to incorporate a savage commentary on UK politics. Like SLOUGH HOUSE there’s a strong set-up feel with Herron manoeuvring characters and motivation for Book 9 but Wheelan’s return, Taverner’s tribulations and Shirley’s rage issues are all a lot of fun, I enjoyed seeing John Bachelor from the novellas and there are some hilarious lines such that I can’t wait for Book 9.

The Blurb On The Back:

There is no blurb on the back. Instead there are the following quotes:

”Set on the harsh South Island beaches of New Zealand, bound in Maori myth and entwined with Christian symbols, Miss Hulme’s provocative novel summons power with words, as a conjurer’s spell. She casts her magic on three fiercely unique character, but reminds us that we, like them, are “nothing more than people”, and that, in a sense, we are all cannibals, compelled to consume the gift of love with demands for perfection.”
New York Times Book Review

“This novel from a New Zealand writer radiates vitality. Seizing on material that might seem outlandish, she transforms it into a table that’s as persuasive as it’s haunting. In this novel, New Zealand’s people, its heritage and landscape are conjured up with uncanny poetry and perceptiveness.”
Sunday Times

“Clearly it was written with passion and it has inspired passions … Rich, varied and flexible, the story becomes utterly compelling.”
New Society

“Keri Hulme is a poet. The power and feeling for nature and the more mystical sides of a dwindling people, the Maoris, will make it a gem providing a whole new range of experience.”
Daily Telegraph

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The Verdict:

Keri Hulme’s debut literary novel won the Booker Prize in 1985 and it’s easy to see why, given the fluid, lyrical writing that draws on Māori beliefs. However, this story of three deeply broken people is not easy to read, especially the scenes of child abuse, and it’s a book that leaves open a number of questions, including Simon’s background and Kerewin’s break with her family, while driving towards a happy-ish ending that didn’t feel deserved.

The Blurb On The Back:

Mirabelle is special because she is different.

Mirabelle’s mum is a witch and her dad is a fairy and she LOVES getting up to magical mischief!

Mirabelle and her family are off on holiday and Mirabelle has promised to be on her very best behaviour. She really means it too …

The holiday is amazing - but when Mirabelle makes a new friend called Beatrix, she makes a worrying discovery - Beatrix is even more mischievous than Mirabelle!

With potions gone wrong, runaway dragons and food fights, will Mirabelle’s family believe that Mirabelle is (mostly) innocent this time, or is it just a case of double the trouble?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The 4th in Harriet Muncaster’s MIRABELLE SERIES (a companion to her ISADORA MOON SERIES) for readers aged 5+ is an entertaining read packed with mischief as Mirabelle is forced to deal with the consequences of being thought of as a trouble maker. Mike Love’s illustrations (based on Muncaster’s original artwork) neatly complement the text and I enjoyed Mirabelle’s relationship with her older brother. I would definitely read on.

MIRABELLE IN DOUBLE TROUBLE was released in the United Kingdom on 3rd February 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Follow the adventures of the extraordinary Ambrose in this newly discovered story from the renowned author of The Sheep-Pig, Dick King-Smith, completed by his great-granddaughter Josie Rogers.

I’ve NEVER seen anything like it … Fancy following a trail like THAT!

Ambrose may seem like an ordinary rabbit but he has the most extraordinary sense of smell! He can detect any aroma from sweets to kittens - and even niffy foxes!

He lives with his family in a hutch and is visited every day by Biddy, who is desperate to take him home to be her pet - if only her mum and dad would let her.

Biddy trains Ambrose to become a tracker rabbit - which comes in very handy when Ambrose’s little sister Roll goes missing. But when Biddy’s family find themselves in real danger, can Ambrose’s sensitive nose save the day?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Josie Rogers has completed her great-grandfather Dick King-Smith’s unfinished manuscript for release on what would have been his centenary, creating an utterly delightful read for children aged 6+ that’s filled with King-Smith’s warmth and wit. The illustrations by Stephanie Laberis are charming and there’s a lovely end note by Rogers. Younger readers will enjoy the adventurous bunnies while older readers will enjoy the sly humour and nostalgia.

AMBROSE FOLLOWS HIS NOSE was released in the United Kingdom on 3rd March 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.