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Jacob Falkovich

Writer of the blog Putanumonit, on rationality, dating, probability and book reviews; based in New York.

5 books on the record · 21 Apr 2017 – 19 Aug 2023

The bar next to each date shows how long ago it was said: 6d is days, 4yr is years.

recommends it

Being You by Anil Seth

I highly recommend that you read Being You, and then that you spend a good while thinking about it.

on putanumonit.com · 19 Aug 2023

recommends it

Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger

This is ultimately why Galileo's Middle Finger is a vitally important work, and why I recommend that people read it in spite of its flaws.

on putanumonit.com · 17 Feb 2018

loved it

Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer

As with movies, it's very rare for a book sequel to be so much better than the original. Seven Surrenders is rated 0.34 points higher on Goodreads than Lightning, which is the gap between an average book and "best of" lists.

on putanumonit.com · 9 Sep 2017

loved it

The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray

The Mark and the Void is my favorite of the three novels but this review will be the shortest because it would superfluous. This review by Slate magazine is excellent, covers all the bases, and it's what has gotten me to read the book to begin with. I'll just focus on the magic.

on putanumonit.com · 9 Sep 2017

mixed on it

Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

This preamble is very pertinent to Lightning. The best facets of the novel are really good, and the worst parts are really bad.

on putanumonit.com · 21 Apr 2017

Everything Jacob Falkovich recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →

That little bar

It says how long ago something was said, so you can tell last month from 2014 without doing the arithmetic. Full and green is recent; it drains and cools as the date gets older, and empties completely at about 6 years.

A striped bar means the date itself is an estimate — the source did not carry an exact one. An entry with no date at all gets no bar.