War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells is a sci-fi horror classic. It’s a story of a Martian invasion narrated by an unnamed 19th century man in England. My first reading of this book was when I was a child in 2005. I scarce remembered it other than it was far different than the movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise.
The original book is far more interesting than the movie, having better characters, stronger themes, and the focus of the story on the protagonist’s desire to find his wife out of love instead of desire to get rid of his kids.
After noticing the popularity and catchy title, I picked up Atom Habits written by James Clear. To put it briefly, it was a moderate disappointment. The book is undeserving of a full read for most people, which is better than I can say about most self-help books since they give harmful advice. The actual substance of the book could be drawn from reading the end chapter summaries and it would save the reader a gross amount of time.
Rating: 3 out of 5 After a decade since I last read this book and twice the age, my experience with this story has changed. Originally when I read it as a boy, the story felt more magical and eerie. I was more focused on the carnival and its mysteries than the characters and their personal growth. I hadn’t given thought about how Bradbury’s perspective of the world, which hasn’t aged well over the decades, is insensitive to people dissimilar to him.
Former president of Harvard University, Charles Eliot, claimed people could receive a liberal education by reading 15 minutes a day. So he decided to make a serialized list of works for those interested to learn. He compiled The Harvard Classics and advertised the anthology with great success. This directly inspired Mortimer J Adler and John Erskine at Columbia University to make an improved collection called The Great Books of the Western World (GBWW).