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F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories | Review

Title: The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 240

Rating: 4/5

Whatever “it” is, F. Scott Fitzgerald has it. I’ve read three or four individual works by him now, and every one of them has been a cracker. They all have that same level of quality that we get from The Great Gatsby, and so while he’s certainly not the kind of writer who’s perfect for everyone, if you like one of his books then you’ll probably like all of them.

This little collection contains seven stories and is the first volume in what I guess amounts to the collected stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Seven stories is just about the right length for a book like this though, and in fact I used it as a little bit of a palette cleanser between two Agatha Christies.

The stories themselves are very much rooted in 1920s flapper culture, and this collection includes The Cut-Glass Bowl, May Day, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, The Rich Boy, Crazy Sunday, An Alcoholic Case, The Lees of Happiness.

All of them were pretty good, although I think May Day was my least favourite because it was far too long. Although it did at least end with a bang, so to speak. And I’d recommend this as a whole.

Learn more about The Diamond as Big as the Ritz and Other Stories.

Richard Dawkins – The Magic of Reality | Review

Title: The Magic of Reality

Author: Richard Dawkins

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count: 272

Rating: 3.5/5

This book is a bit of a weird one because it takes the form of a series of responses to questions, and so every chapter in the book is based upon a question like, “When and how did everything begin?” It’s a pretty simple setup that allows Dawkins to tackle some of the bigger questions that people have, but it does also mean that it feels as though something’s somehow lacking.

Don’t get me wrong, the science was solid and Dawkins made his arguments well, and I do feel that I’ve learned a bunch of stuff here. At the same time, it feels a bit like he’s set out to try to explain everything and then settled for just a few frequently asked questions. I’m not sure what he could have done differently though, because if the book was two or three times the length, it would have ended up feeling long and drawn out.

Still, it was a pretty good way to keep my brain trained and to learn a few new lessons about science and stuff. This isn’t necessarily the best non-fiction science book on the market, but I polished it off in 24 hours or so and was happy with it, even if it was just okay. After all, I’m slowly working my way through everything that Dawkins has ever written, and this is probably one of the most approachable. All in all, I’m glad I read it and maybe you’ll like it too.

Click here to learn more about The Magic of Reality.