Unlike my previous book reviews, I’ve decided to approach {{The 48 Laws of Power}} by {{Robert Greene}} in a slightly different manner. Mr Greene’s collection of historical observations into a neatly-distilled, easily-readable format should make everyone who reads it want to put a copy on their desk – and reread [parts of] it frequently. The …
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Category:books
netherland by joseph o’neill
I finished reading {{Netherland}} by {{Joseph O’Neill}} Tuesday. It’s a “novel” in the same sense that {{One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest}} or {{Where the Heart Is}} are novels – it’s a story. The story unfolds in a rambling fashion as a the memoirs of Hans van den Broek. It’s a story of one man’s life …
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reading again
Wow. It’s been several months since I last posted a book review. I have been reading in the mean time – just haven’t gotten around to posting any of them hereon. In the intervening months I’ve read {{1434}} by {{Gavin Menzies}} (follow-on to 1421) and {{The Lost City of Z}} by {{David Grann}}. I’m currently reading …
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square foot gardening by mel bartholomew
Years ago, my mom and I would routinely try to catch episodes of {{Square Foot Gardening}} (SFG) on PBS. Hosted by {{Mel Bartholomew}}, a retired civil engineer, SFG was a program whose aim was to enable gardening by the masses in confined spaces (though, naturally, if can be implemented in larger settings as well). Mr Bartholomew’s …
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world war z by max brooks
{{Max Brooks}} is likely the world’s foremost authority on zombies – how to survive them, what to do if there is an uprising, etc. In “{{World War Z}} – An Oral History of the Zombie War”, he tackles the issue of reporting on what happened by interviews with those who survived. From first-hand accounts from a …
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1421 by gavin menzies
I enjoy histories – especially when delivered in the format that {{Gavin Menzies}} employed in “{{1421}} – The Year China Discovered America”. The only other history I have read in the past 5 years I can recall reading so fast was Gideon’s Spies. Gavin makes a compelling presentation, interpretation, application, and conclusion of a host …
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producing your own power by many
Rodale Press published a collected works book entitled “{{Producing Your Own Power}} – How to make Nature’s Energy Sources Work for You” in 1974. There are a host of now-humorous segments of the text: “The US government estimates that by 1980 1 percent of our country’s land will be covered with utility companies’ equipment” {viii}. The contiguous …
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applied cryptography, 2d ed by bruce schneier
As recently promised, here is my review of {{Bruce Schneier}}’s seminal work, {{Applied Cryptography}} (2d edition). I received my now-signed copy of Applied Cryptography (2d ed) for my 16th birthday – about a year after it was published. Of all the “odd” books I asked-for when I was younger, this single volume had to take …
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the personifid project
It’s not often I read Christian fiction – too often some (or even most) the doctrines embraced and promulgated by the authors are not ones I agree with. I was very pleasantly surprised to fine that {{R E Bartlett}}’s book, {{The Personifid Project}} was not like that. It’s even a great example of science fiction, …
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pascal’s pensées
{{Blaise Pascal}}, the famous mathematician, philosopher, and part-time theologian, is a fascinating member of history to me. Several years ago I borrowed a copy of his “{{Pensées}}” from a friend, and skimmed it. At the time, I was impressed more with the randomness of the collection than with anything specific he wrote. A few days ago, …
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the codebreakers by david kahn
My interest in cryptography has extended, now, for more than 15 years. The first book I read on the topic was {{David Kahn}}’s seminal work, {{The Codebreakers}}. Several years later, I received a copy of the book for Christmas, which I promptly reread. Kahn’s writing style is eminently inviting, sucking the reader into an extensive …
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flatland by edwin a abbott
I have read, and reread, {{Flatland}} several times. It’s subtitle, “A Romance of Many Dimensions”, would most likely have been surprising when it was originally published in 1884. {{Edwin A Abbot}} weaves a tale of exploration, heresy, discovery, enlightenment, geometry, and more in a mere 81 pages (in the copy I have). We are introduced …
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the secret fire by martin langfield
I had high hopes for {{Martin Langfield}}’s book, {{The Secret Fire}} when I purchased it several months ago. The cover headline reads, “the world is under threat… from a weapon launched in 1944”. Sounded good. The back cover, likewise, sounded pretty good, too: Sotheby’s, London, 1936 A paper by Sir Isaac Newton is sold at …
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the cuckoo’s egg by cliff stoll
Several years ago, {{Cliff Stoll}}’s amazing, true-life account of espionage and system administration in the 1980s was recommended to me. Mr Stoll started his professional life in astronomy, but, due to budget cuts at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, he moved into systems administration. Interspersed through the book are both political commentaries (he was after all at …
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the host by stephanie meyer
While I was living in Singapore, I read {{The Host}} by {{Stephanie Meyer}} (of {{Twilight}} fame). I had completed the Twilight series, and had, overall, enjoyed her writing style and was interested to see if she would be able to write a story that did not involve vampires, werewolves, and a bizarre romance between a …
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outliers by malcolm gladwell
I have now read a few items by {{Malcolm Gladwell}}, but so far have liked {{Outliers}} most. The premise is Mr Gladwell’s research that if you hit ~10000 hours working on something, you become fabulous. That, and being born right after an age cutoff (say, 3 Jan when the age cutoff is 31 Dec) will …
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without remorse by tom clancy
One of the [very] few novels I have ever reread is {{Without Remorse}} by {{Tom Clancy}} – and I’ve reread it several times: each time noticing something I hadn’t before, and each time reacting quite viscerally to how the book’s main character (I hesitate to call him a “hero”) goes about his desired objective. If …
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the 4-hour body by tim ferriss
Upon the recommendation of my friend Steven, I picked-up a cheap copy of {{Tim Ferriss}}’ {{The 4-Hour Body}}. My first observation is that Tim Ferriss is not one to necessarily edit his speech patterns for writing. While not rife with them, there are a fair number of vulgarities throughout the book – all of which …
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gideon’s spies by gordon thomas
{{Gideon’s Spies}} by {{Gordon Thomas}} claims to be “the secret history of the Mossad”. From the myriad reviews on Amazon, I didn’t know whether to be expecting a massive work of historical fiction, or a insightful tour de force. After having nearly finished it, I don’t know if I have an opinion of whether it’s …
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continuing the book theme…
From the reading-more department, I’m going to attempt to put one review of a book out every week, with a target day of Wednesday. Might end up putting a couple out on some books because they take a longer time to read, but that’s the goal. Today started with a quickie overview of {{Aesop’s Fables}} …
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reading more
I find that the more time I tend to have, the less I want to read… but when I’m really busy, I’ll find all kinds of books that look interesting. With my current work arrangement, I travel frequently, and have been taking the time on the flights (if not sleeping) to read through histories, novels, …
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