Books August 2017 – Homeland + 1
Homeland by Cory Doctrow. Homeland is the sequel to Little Brother which I read before posting reviews. Doctrow is a well-known champion of liberalizing copyright laws (you won’t find his books on Audible). Little Brother and Homeland are works of fiction that…
Books July 2017 Ready Player One +3
July was a good month to finish books. Ready Player One (RPO) by Earnest Cline takes place in 2044, but it’s filled with references to the 1980s. Most of this story takes place within a massive multiplayer online role-playing game called…
Books June 2017 – Aurora
I only completed one book in June, and it wasn’t even a particularly good one. Having house guests for most of the month really slows down one’s reading — though I hear the opposite is also possible. I really enjoyed…
Books May 2017 Modern Romance +1
May was conference month. Four conferences and a wedding. Reading took a hit, but I did finish two books this month. I expect June will be light too for other reasons. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari was a delightful surprise….
Books April 2017 The Martian +3
April was a great month for books- after a grueling first quarter of travel, April was a full month at home. Three great books plus a mental floss thriller. I continue to prioritize science fiction. It’s unbelievable how good science…
Books March 2017 Dark Matter + 2
Completed three books in March. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch is a quantum physics thriller. There’s very little I can say here that won’t ruin some surprises, so I will keep it brief. The science provides a nice back drop, but…
Books Feb 2017 Girl in the Woods +2
Girl in the Woods by Aspen Matis. I enjoyed the movie Wild which is about about a woman in her 40s that turns to the 2650 mile hike of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to sort out the loss of her mother,…
Books Jan 2017 Seveneves and Switch
Two recent books to share. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. This one was another recommended book by Bill Gates. I find that Bill’s recommendations can be pretty complex, and Seveneves is no exception. It’s a long one. I got into it…
The Trial – Books November
In November I only finished one book – travel, sick, whatever. I was also light on dog walks. However, the book read was my first Kafka Book, The Trial. Kafka blends elements of Hitchcock and Rod Sterling, though he was…
Books October 2016: The Big Short +1
Two books this month, and in both cases it was the movie that caught my attention.I generally prefer to start with the book because it has more than two hours of content, and movie adaptations cut too much out. However, after…
Books Sep 2016 Abundance + 2
These are the books completed in September – a good month. Still Foolin’ ‘Em by Billy Crystal: There are not much television shows I remember from high school, but Soap is one of them. What no one could know back…
August 2016 Books Elon Musk +5
August was a banner month for completed books. The list appears long, but I think I read Coraline in July and forgot to include it in last month’s post, and several of these books are short. Elon Musk – Tesla, SpaceX, and the…
Books July 2016 – the Orbital Perspective +3
MIT AI Course by Marvin Minsky: Marvin Minsky is one of the legends of Artificial Intelligence. His 1988 book on AI, Society of Mind, remains required reading – and it’s not really about AI. Minsky portrays the mind as a “society”…
Books June 2016 Stranger in a Strange Land + 2
Books completed in June. Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein: Classic science fiction that’s been on my list for a very long time. I think it’s held up well, but who knows. I Really enjoyed the book which is more about…
Books May 2016: Undeniable + 2
My May reading list had these three books: Undeniable by Bill Nye the Science Guy. Nye decided to write this book after debating evolution vs. creationism. This is an excellent book that exceeded my expectations. Man’s understanding of evolution has significantly…
The Nest
In April I finished a book that is currently number 3 on the NY Times Best Seller list, The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. It’s the second time I have been surprised about this book. The other surprise was when my husband, who…
Books April 2016 – Exponential Organizations +2
Books completed this month. The Giver by Lois Lowry: Technically a book for young readers, but like Watership Down it’s really for adults. It takes place in a future in a society that is nearly perfect. Seems like most future books are dystopian. This little…
Books March 2016
Just one book this month (and barely at that). Between Enterprise Connect, family activities around Spring Break, and a longer than usual book – it was a single book month. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a Pulitzer Prize winning book….
Avenue of Mysteries
I’m old enough to remember when John Irving’s The World According to Garp was a huge bestseller, 45 years ago. Though I’ve read other books by Irving over the years (e.g., The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany), it…
Books Feb 2016
Continuing with my second monthly installment of books I recently completed. Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World: I really enjoyed this book and it was a real eye opener. I consider myself fairly…