Book reviews for May 2013

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

Book reviews for April 2013

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

4/5

Makes sense...

 

 

The Mirage by Matt Ruff

4/5

A brilliant and detailed transposition of 9/11 in America to 11/9 in Arabia. I thought it was going to be a one trick pony but Mirage also delivers a solid thriller.

 

 

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Reviews and Links for March 2013

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017
The Land of Later on by Anthony Weller

The Land of Later on by Anthony Weller

4/5

Probably not what happens when you die... but you never know.

 

Even Faster Web Sites by Steve Souders

Even Faster Web Sites by Steve Souders

4/5

Plenty of solid advice backed up by data and sample code. I picked up a few new optimizations to try and a couple to revisit from reading this book. Well recommended if you want to make a site faster.

 

The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset (The Hunger Games, #1-3) by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxset (The Hunger Games, #1-3) by Suzanne Collins

3/5

The first book is very well done, but in the genre of forcing kids to kill each other I have to say I prefer Battle Royale. Battle Royale is more of a horror story, The Hunger Games has this element but it's also a fantasy about escaping poverty to makeovers and banquets as well. The second book sags a little and then the third book really picks up the pace and ends very strongly. Quick and worthwhile read.

 

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Reviews and Links for February 2013

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

Shift Omnibus Edition (Wool, #6-8) by Hugh Howey

3/5

I read this straight after the Wool series. The Shift trilogy fills in the back story of how the silos were created and then starts to overlap with the events from Wool. Shift didn't have quite the same tension as Wool and I didn't care about the characters as much. Still hooked though and can't wait for Dust later this year...

 

Wool Omnibus (Wool, #1-5) by Hugh Howey

Wool Omnibus (Wool, #1-5) by Hugh Howey

4/5

Collection of five novellas set in a mysterious silo. A little more is revealed with each chapter and the series gets more compelling and ambiguous as we learn more about what's really going on. Didn't know what to expect (got this as a Christmas Present) but very enjoyable and I've gone straight on to the next omnibus with a final tranche due later this year.

 

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Reviews and Links for January 2013

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

2/5

I always want to like Kim Stanley Robinson a lot more than I do. The setup here is an interesting mystery set in a fascinating fully populated Solar System and if 2312 delivered on this premise it could have been a great book. But it's bogged down with exposition and a lengthy middle section on randomly repopulating extinct mammals and ended up just being a slog for me.

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Reviews and Links for December 2012

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017
Phantom (Alexander Hawke, #7) by Ted Bell

Phantom (Alexander Hawke, #7) by Ted Bell

2/5

Sigh. The man can contradict himself in the space of a single sentence. Must stop...

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Reviews and Links for November 2012

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

Reviews and Links for October 2012

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

Skios by Michael Frayn

4/5

Perfectly well oiled comedy of errors.

 

The Hydrogen Sonata (Culture, #10) by Iain M. Banks

3/5

Solid but somewhat routine Culture installment.

 

A Wanted Man (Jack Reacher, #17) by Lee Child

3/5

Solid Reacher installment.

 

Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writing by Neal Stephenson

4/5

Excellent collection of articles and a couple of short stories. Worth reading just for the Wired article on the technology and politics of submarine cables.

 

Links

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Reviews and Links for September 2012

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

5/5

Epic Murakami, set in a maybe-alternate-universe version of 1984. There is a definite change in tone in the third book, hard to tell if this is the story of the change in translator but the story sags slightly before picking up the pace again at the end. Even without this it's a long and sprawling book which you'll love if you like Murakami's tone and unique characterization. I'm in the love camp.

 

Links

Check out Field Trip on Google Play! https://t.co/EVGELuBe -- looks cool, automatically tells you when something interesting is near

Missing kids plan for 404 pages http://t.co/Z3B3v1QZ -- kind of creepy

Field Papers - http://t.co/QHIyzvPn - looks very cool. Via @RavenEllison #todo @myEN

Kids App Maker Duck Duck Moose Raises $7M Series A From Sequoia, Lightspeed & Others http://t.co/SaeXuzop -- well deserved

Crow Gyre http://t.co/jjLn3PtQ -- testing card approval

This Mind Blowing Video Does NOT Use Green Screen http://t.co/RkiyqmR3

San Francisco playground report card: http://t.co/shGKggA5 Precita Park gets an F :( #fb

Announcing Source Code Pro http://t.co/QpUUSO18 -- nice code font @myEN

ITHCWY: Crow Gyre http://t.co/kAM89GHF

Updated with more Endeavor pics: http://t.co/UIXy2xj5 #OV105 #spottheshuttle

Vernal Equinox 2012 in Catfood Earth http://t.co/UOHqwK3V via @CatfoodSoftware #equinox

ITHCWY: #OV105 http://t.co/m7Th3xMp

BBC News - Tom Daley 'abuse' tweet: Legal rethink on online rules http://t.co/ItA6wYFM -- only correct boundary is no boundary

Ridiculous / awesome: http://t.co/9Muup4tA

ITHCWY: Worst special TiVo offer ever http://t.co/rfTaeXn7

via @TheOnion - No One Murdered Because Of This Image http://t.co/Vilv9166

Check out Viva Fund Summer Campaign: http://t.co/XXwB9P1d via @razoo

5 of 5 stars to 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami http://t.co/T5u5ZiOB

ITHCWY: Earthquake Supply Co.: The last time we refreshed our earthquake supply kit was because of a smell. It… http://t.co/SlvpmlFO

ITHCWY: Like Debate?: I’ve just started work on a new project called Like Debate. It’s going to be a new type of… http://t.co/6Bj0YPxa

RT @LikeDebate: Getting Started - Like Debate is my attempt to build a new type of debate web site. The teaser page launched … http://t. ...

Ticked off: How stock market decimalization killed IPOs and ruined our economy http://t.co/P0CzpSQ2

Star Sighting: Invisible Obamas Seen Relaxing in Bernal Heights http://t.co/yLJkubYL #fb

Earth and WebCams announcement from http://t.co/YG0xtwCc: http://t.co/KlJfVs9j

ITHCWY: Catfood: Earth for Android: I’ve just released Catfood Earth for Android. It’s my second app created with… http://t.co/YGjxSkcb

ITHCWY: Guess? http://t.co/0hz03251

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Reviews and Links for August 2012

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

5/5

Stonking police procedural set in the months leading up to a global catastrophe.

 

Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez

5/5

Excellent techno-thriller. A little more serious and focused than Daemon and Freedom (TM). It's about a worst case drone scenario, ants, extra-special forces and some smart birds. Very good.

 

Links

Windows 8, Users 0? http://t.co/966Cuwjz

Bill Nye declares Todd Akin "fucking idiot"; issues debate challenge http://t.co/AZ3k55Y4 #fb

ITHCWY: Fight Facebook with Email: I was a little saddened to read today that Diaspora is transitioning over to… http://t.co/2G0pDdu0

Diaspora Founders To Move On, Handing Over Decentralized Social Network ‘To The Community’ http://t.co/KQGb2kpv -- sad, but not the future

RT @MargaretAtwood: Just used http://t.co/Nhna2CGO for gruesome printer problem: excellent, done in 10 mins! Tks to S H E F I N. Website ...

Check out Catfood Earth Live Wallpaper on Google Play! https://t.co/NTJQ1sYL

ITHCWY: Twenty-Four Hours with Twilio: I've wanted to play with Twilio's voice and SMS service for a while and… http://t.co/KOK0PG2M

Tuesdays http://t.co/BLNiCP3H

Twitter Cuts Off Tumblr's Ability to Find Friends http://t.co/1g3ZcClf

5 of 5 stars to The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters http://t.co/9NF2nviH

XML: http://t.co/VadVt321 #rofl

Windows 8 Is Now Available For Developers (And For Everybody Else, There’s A 90-Day Free Trial, Too) http://t.co/iu1li6BV

Gotye's YouTube orchestra remix of "Somebody That I Used to Know" http://t.co/OUEXXltQ

ITHCWY: City by the Bay: View from Bernal Hill this afternoon. http://t.co/11cI3ctk

Nice panorama! Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 2 #360pano http://t.co/w1H2ocUm via @360cities

ITHCWY: Share a picture in MonoDroid: Here’s how to share a picture to Facebook, Twitter and so forth from… http://t.co/pByzvjmx

5 of 5 stars to Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez http://t.co/TKgUMNW0

BBC News - Mars rover makes first colour panorama http://t.co/fZ7u8smZ

How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking http://t.co/BDmRAbm3

Via KQED Guides: Guide to Bay Area Tidepools: Where to Explore Amazing Marine Life | http://t.co/TDBRDnTD #todo @myEN

ITHCWY: Catfood: WebCams for Android: I’ve just released a WebCam app for Android. It’s based on WebCamSaver but… http://t.co/azZUwkkz

Pay for a new social network with no ads? https://t.co/2tox3c2y Anyone I know going to be on there? #fb

Curiosity http://t.co/D2cyWE66

BBC News - Photo shows Mars rover descent http://t.co/KfOv1qOF

Catfood WebCams for Android - Catfood Software http://t.co/VzeySq90 via @CatfoodSoftware

Check out Catfood WebCams on Google Play! https://t.co/VTU8YiBd

ITHCWY: Not a Private Key: When jarsigner says "Key Associated with [alias] not a private key" it almost certainly… http://t.co/3sk89ENV

ITHCWY: Sending email via GMail in C#/.NET using SmtpClient: I’ve stubbed my toe on this a couple of times, so here… http://t.co/QJ7YjcjI

Help end patent litigation insanity and tell your congress person to back SHIELD. http://t.co/27anadBt

ITHCWY: Support SHIELD–a small measure of patent sanity: A friend pointed me at the SHIELD (PDF) act today. This… http://t.co/ArXHgZ0e

ITHCWY: Thank you for choosing HSA Bank!: No, thank you HSA Bank for not giving me a choice and then cheekily… http://t.co/9torSXCq

Bill would force patent trolls to pay defendants’ legal bills | Ars Technica http://t.co/poB3zzlX +1, via @sr00t

What a happy coincidence. As well as #IPAday it's also goof off at work day: http://t.co/7AItItWq

Apparently it's #IPADay - luckily there's some @21stAmendment in the fridge. http://t.co/jyYPSePC

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