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July 03
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Bill
gave  to:
The Silmarillion (Hardcover)
by
J.R.R. Tolkien
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Bill said:
"While practically impenetrable from a readability standpoint, the scope and substance warrants full marks and then some. In order to fully follow the story you'd have to be some sort of name savant what with all the begats and such. Nevertheless, if ...more
While practically impenetrable from a readability standpoint, the scope and substance warrants full marks and then some. In order to fully follow the story you'd have to be some sort of name savant what with all the begats and such. Nevertheless, if you can accept that, and maybe keep a copy of the Compete Guide to Middle-Earth or the online Encyclopedia of Arda within reach, you'll find hours of enjoyment here.
Also I think sequence is important with Tolkien's work. I don't think Silmarillion should be read first since I don't think the work on its own establishes sufficient emotional buy-in to offset all the pain (those begats again).
Before I read it, I had read The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy and had seen all the films. And I was already a fan. At a friend's advice, also, I read the Silmarillion itself out of sequence. I started with the final chapters about Sauron and the One Ring. This is the material that underpins the opening sequence of Jackson's first film.
Those chapters put me in the spirit of the book: less like a novel—more like a history or even religious text. After that I jumped to the beginning and read it right through.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Tolkien's creation myth. I find it in all ways superior to the Abrahamic one most of us westerners are familiar with. It's much more interesting, coherent and beautiful.(less)
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March 19
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Bill
gave  to:
Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 (Real World)
by
Mordy Golding
bookshelves:
graphic-design
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my rating:
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Bill
is currently reading:
The Last American Man (Audio Cassette)
by
Elizabeth Gilbert
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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March 13
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Bill
gave to:
Life in the River Hills (Paperback)
by
Mary, Etta Neal
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Bill said:
"This memoir of an early-twentieth-century woman growing up in Southern Kentucky is best when the stories are first-hand. In the middle part of the book, Etta Neal offers a bunch of stories told to her by her father. I read a few of those but they jus...more
This memoir of an early-twentieth-century woman growing up in Southern Kentucky is best when the stories are first-hand. In the middle part of the book, Etta Neal offers a bunch of stories told to her by her father. I read a few of those but they just didn't grab me so I skipped the others.
There are lots of little slices of Appalachian anthropology mixed in here. It's worthwhile digging them out.(less)
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Bill
gave to:
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Paperback)
by
Michael Pollan
bookshelves:
reality
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Bill said:
"Wow this is one of those life-changing books. Michael Pollan will make you care not only about cattle, but mushrooms too!
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Bill
gave to:
Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem (Paperback)
by
Simon Singh
bookshelves:
history-of-math
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Bill said:
"I've read so many of these math histories lately that the first half of the book wasn't interesting (at first). So I skipped to the middle and read to the end. Then I went kind of backward through the first half of the book.
While Singh ma...more
I've read so many of these math histories lately that the first half of the book wasn't interesting (at first). So I skipped to the middle and read to the end. Then I went kind of backward through the first half of the book.
While Singh make the point more than once, that the math behind Andrew Wiles’ is really hard and therefore pretty much beyond the scope of a popular account, I have to wonder whether Singh could have tried a little harder. I felt that Singh's technical presentation could have been better (read John Derbyshire for instance).
All that being said, the story itself is riveting and Singh does tackle it from a number of angles. I'm going to look for some more books on Fermat and Wiles. Until then though, this will have served as an entertaining introduction to what has to be one of the greatest stories in math. (less)
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February 25
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Bill
marked as to-read:
Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are (Hardcover)
by
Rob Walker (Goodreads author)
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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February 15
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Bill
gave to:
Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism, Second Edition (Paperback)
by
Gary Gach (Goodreads author)
bookshelves:
reality
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my rating:
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read in February, 2009
Bill said:
"Gary Gach really delivers in this ambitious book. He goes broad, covering Buddhism from a zillion angles. You get the history. You get the important schools/variants. And you get solid coverage of the principles including the basics of a number of mi...more
Gary Gach really delivers in this ambitious book. He goes broad, covering Buddhism from a zillion angles. You get the history. You get the important schools/variants. And you get solid coverage of the principles including the basics of a number of mindfulness meditation practices. It's kind of a short encyclopedia of Buddhism.
My only complaint, and the reason the book gets three stars instead of four, is that in the penultimate chapter Gach says something that is just patently false. He claims that scientific studies of intercessory prayer have proven that "prayer (works like) a miracle drug". Further he attempts to bolster his claim by stating that "there have been at least 150 such (successful) tests".
Gosh that's a pretty wacky interpretation of reality. Now I can't fault him for not going all Sam Harris on the topic but sheesh. Just to check my own facts I found this little summary of the studies on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer#Effi...
Oh and here's another page linking to some short surveys of the field:
http://www.davidmyers.org/Brix?pageID=12...
So that flaw of course calls into question the authors objectivity in general. That's a pity because it really is a good book otherwise.(less)
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January 28
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Bill
marked as to-read:
Toxic Success: How to Stop Striving and Start Thriving (Paperback)
by
Paul Pearsall
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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January 04
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New comment on Ariel's progress update: "On page 178 of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural Histor.... Devouring. Great plane book, though makes eating in airports all the scarier. Also, changed my mind on Horizon Dairy products. :p" see all comments
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