Book Bites: Opus

Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right-Wing Conspiracy inside the Catholic Church by Gareth Gore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Opus paints a bleak picture of how easily and quickly ambition and money can poison a faith. Gore uproots Opus Dei from its professed mythos and dangles a fascist-supporting, Holocaust denying, fame-obsessed founder--Josemaria Escriva--a backhanded ascension in the Catholic hierarchy through bribes and kompromat, all the way to its ruining of the Spanish financial system and its interweaving with American Political Dark Money. Along the way there is human trafficking and slavery and child abuse at almost every turn. Gore's Opus shows the corrupting power in believing that the ends can justify the means and how easily faith can be twisted toward evil.

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Book Bites: More Everything Forever

More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity by Adam Becker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More Everything Forever is a calm, fact-fueled refutation of Billionaires' obsessions with "effective altruism," the AI singularity, and saving humanity via exoplanetary settlement. Becker argues all these pet projects are absolute, one hundred precent, Grade-A bullshit. Complete rot. Though valiant-sounding, fighting theoretical super-intelligent machines or promising infinite growth are moral feints, the flimsy shields behind which Billionaires try to justify their inhumane wealth. The likelihood of any of these scenarios hovers around zero. Worse, by claiming all humanities problems can be solved through technology, the tech bros and ultrawealthy engineers create themselves as ultimate arbiters of right and wrong; the new gods. It's all ego run amok. Throughout Becker's voice is restrained, almost parental, funny at times, bringing out the receipts time and time again. More Everything Forever is fresh air against a plague of wealth and power.

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Book Bites: The Kiss Quotient

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Kiss Quotient is a *very nearly* perfect mid-spice romantic novel. Hoang seems to have a gift for not writing the parts that the reader skips. The book hits the ground running. Our protagonists, Stella and Michael, are likeable and three-dimensional. There is just enough specificity surrounding Autism, Vietnamese Culture, Economics and Fashion design to really fill out the narrative. And Hoang has a gift for pacing and tension. The only drawback here is that the third act slows waaay down. Where the rest of the book was snappy back-and-forths and steamy sex, the third act labors to finish its plot with soapy shenanigans and tropey connivances. It's just enough to leave a slightly sour taste in what is otherwise a wonderfully sweet book.

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Book Bites (Expanded Edition): Aftertaste

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars

THIS REVIEW INCLUDES SPOILERS

Aftertaste is a novel that feels like it wants to be a short story. Konstantin, following the death of his father, discovers he can “taste” ghosts, and by cooking their meals, can temporarily bring them back. The setup is delightful. Mouth-watering food writing abounds.

Aftertaste’s problem is that the book is over-written.