by J. R. R. Tolkien

Just wanted to immerse myself in more Tolkien escapism. I learned a lot.

37 was a re-read of Red Dog Farm for book club (my own pick).

38 is by my high school classmate JD Glass, originally in novel form and now in graphic novel form illustrated by her wife:

by JD Glass & Kris Dresen

I feel like in this format, the arc around “Attila the Nun” and the emergence of her softer side was not given its due. We didn’t see enough of her being a tyrant to begin with, only a page or two. And then not enough of her being the savior in the end. That was my favorite part of the original novel.

by Alexander Starritt

Whenever I see a review of any novel about characters in STEM, I grab it. It’s so rare.

This is a story of two unlikely friends who know each other distantly at Oxford, then meet up at their first job working at McKinsey Management consultancy. First they’re working on allocating funding for education, but then the 2008 financial collapse happens, and they end up (as McKinsey employees) restructuring (other) firms and laying off people. This is how they come to be in Aberdeen, where they shift gears and start up a company that is going to make turbines that generate energy from the tides.

Backing up a bit, the reason these friends are unlikely is their personalities. Drayton is a classic “on the spectrum” personality – focused and driven and bad with people. Mackenzie is a hapless and happy-go-lucky “normie”. At first they aren’t friends at all. As the novel builds momentum around their increasingly successful and spectacular energy startup, it builds their friendship, in a wholly believable and non-caricatured way.

I personally liked the appearances by the likes of Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi dealing with the events of 2008. Peter Thiel and Elon Musk are also bit characters.