Non-fiction book reviews part 17 - Harry Styles, one pot cooking and AI

Welcome to part 17 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that have eclectic taste and endless curiosity. This time I am learning about Harry Styles, one pot cooking and deconstructed poetry, eclectic indeed! All books are kindly provided as e-Arcs through NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews.

Harry Styles Is Life: A Superfan’s Guide to All Things We Love about Harry Styles by Kathleen Perricone | (Releases 8 October 2024)

I recently reviewed  Taylor Swift is Life, so when I had the opportunity to read a similar overview of Harry Styles, I thought that would be fun. I was expected a non-critical, enthusiastic overview of his career, taken from third party sources and other open information, with hand drawn illustrations, rather than any photos. That is exactly what I got, although the hyperbole level was, if possible, even higher in this book. For example I don't think Harry Styles redefines masculinity by wearing a dress, it has been done before. The book is divided into sections, starting with Harry's childhood, going on to talk about 1 Direction and the final section (Harry A-Z), which did feel rather like filler. It was a fine, fluffy book, consistent with the others in the series. Fun as a gift for a fan, or to flip through but not nothing original or substantial.

The "I Don't Want to Cook" Book: Dinners Done in One Pot: 100 Low-Prep, No-Mess Recipes for Your Skillet, Sheet Pan, Pressure Cooker, and More! by Alyssa Brantley 

This book sounded like it would be perfect for me - it's important to me that I eat home-cooked meals when I am at home, which is usually three or four nights a week. They ideally have to have carbs, protein and vegetables. I want them to be easy to cook, easy to clean up and for there to be left-over for lunch the next day. Unfortunately I didn't find this book very inspiring. despite it's clear lay-out and nice pictures. A large part of that is that it is American-centric. All measurements are in ounces. There are lots of shortcut foods that are not easily available here, like Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, Montery jack cheese or marinara sauce. Even without this, I didn't find the recipes called to me. Maybe it was the way things were phrased. Chapters called 'Dump and Go' do not make me want to cook, or eat that. I shudder at pre-shredded cheese (it has anti-caking agents, which can make it less melty), and some of the short-cuts were 'make a salad' or 'here's a sandwich'.  I think this book might have appealed more when I was starting out with cooking, before I had worked out which short-cuts work for me and which do not..   

what are you afraid of? <The LaMDA Sonnets> by JP Seabright  (Releases 25 October 2024)

I was both amused and disturbed when that Google employee decided the A.I. he had been chatting with was sentient, particularly when the transcripts were released. I can't say I did a deep dive into it, A.I. is a thing that is happening 'out there' - to me, not about me. This book's blub claims it 'is a sequence of de/reconstructed sonnets derived from the transcript of "interviews" between the software engineer Blake Lemoine and a colleague at Google with LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications)... These sonnets are accompanied with digitally manipulated photos of the author's deconstructed computer, and pose questions regarding the nature of human consciousness and the ethical considerations of machine learning.'

Having read this I still don't understand what a deconstructed sonnet is. I also didn't realise that these 'deconstructed sonnets' are the AIs words, arranged in pretty patterns and groupings on a page. I've read some of the transcripts, and I'm not sure what the point is of reframing them like this. The book would definitely have benefited from an introduction explaining things - or maybe I would benefit from a less literal approach to things. Either way, I'm still not sure what was happening here. The photos are pretty.