false 13 33 33 true 5653117 read 0 true 3667242 currently-reading 0 true 3667241 to-read 8 false 3667275 non-fiction 5 false 3667276 history 4 false 3667277 biography 2 false 4199589 fiction 1 false 4267656 organization 1 false 3667247 graphic-novels 1 false 4188761 languages 1 false 4199594 fantasy 1 false 4188766 massive-loosely-supported-thematic- 1 false 4199626 current-affairs 1 false 4199597 historical 1 false 4267659 time-management 1 false 4199596 close-to-reality 1 false 4199623 religions 1 false 4199593 sci-fi 1 false 4267653 self-help 1 false 4188817 pop-sci 0 false 5004784 humor http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55582456 to: 21 Dog Years : A Cube Dweller's Tale (Paperback) by Mike Daisey
bookshelves: biography, non-fiction
Well, really three-and-a-half.

The book certainly gives you a sense of why working at Amazon was a very crazy prospect in the late '90s. I grew up in Silicon Valley during the tech boom, but I never really understood what it was like from the inside, certainly not in the way Mike Daisey saw it.
On the other hand, our narrator is a bit too sarcastic in his views of everything to be entirely believable, and sometimes the humor can wear a little thin.
Definitely worth a read; shouldn't take more than a few hours. Light fare. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44234379 to: In the Night Garden (The Orphan's Tales, #1) by Catherynne M. Valente
bookshelves: fantasy, fiction
This is a lovely book of fairy tale(s) set in an interesting frame narrative. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but I was very struck with the way that all the stories blended into each other, as though the Arabian Nights (its obvious and overwhelming influence) were layered like an onion, instead of serial like a pod full of peas.

The book deals with broad fairy-tale-revisionist/feminist themes, such as the nature of heroism, the magic power of the non-beautiful and even the monstrous (pretty princesses may get saved by princes but they're rarely being of power or interest in themselves), and the importance of defying convention and (in some cases) finding sisterly love. Reading this book, it is not at all unsurprising that it was well-received at WisCon. But it treats these ideas in a very interesting way, even if certain points (particularly about the nature of monstrosity) are hammered home a bit too heavily.

It is still a delightful adventure, even if the structure makes it difficult to find good stopping points at times. I would definitely recommend it as an excellent book to read and discuss. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/44234017 to: Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (Hardcover) by Brian Tracy
bookshelves: organization, self-help, time-management
This is a one-and-a-half-star time management book. Another story of "how to be successful in life" whose main focus is to make sure that you set priorities clearly and that you spend your time doing things that will help you meet long-term goals. This is perfectly sound (if overwhelmingly... corporate) advice, but not always the easiest to follow. And of course, if this were easy to do, everyone would be doing it already.

So, the 21 ways in question are repetitive, but the book isn't without merit; it's the sort of thing that I ought to reread, until I've actually got it drummed into my thick skull that life is finite and I need to spend it doing things that have payoffs (not necessarily at work, but in my life). Ahh, well -- when I get around to it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43229106 to: No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Paperback) by Reza Aslan
bookshelves: current-affairs, history, non-fiction, religions
Everything you ever wanted to know about Islam, but were too afraid or too benighted to ask.

This book is a great antidote to the kind of ridiculous rhetoric we see about "Islamofascism" (essentially a contradiction in terms, btw) as it explores the history of Islam, and how that history is the real subject of the current divide in the Islamic world. The author's central thesis is that the collected textual and extratextual traditions of Islam, like those of any other religion, can be assembled to support either values that we (non-fundamentalist-Muslims) support, or values we don't. What's currently going on (per the author) is a massive intra-Muslim conflict over the basic meaning of Islam, essentially an Islamic Reformation. What is at stake is Islam's image in the world and significance in world affairs. Most of the book is devoted to supporting this thesis, demonstrating that there's plenty for every American to love in the Islamic tradition (such as a rejection of clan and class privileges and of the oppression of women), and that there are Islamic scholars who are well aware of this and arguing for it.

Needless to say, the author also indicates that the US media and government does the world a great disservice by falsely claiming that the fundamentalists are the only legitimate Islamic voices. Really we should be acknowledging Islamic moderates and championing them--even though ultimately the battle for the soul of Islam is one between Muslims, in which the US need have only peripheral involvement (if any). In some ways, the best thing we can do might just be to butt out. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43228596 to: The Prestige (Paperback) by Christopher Priest
bookshelves: close-to-reality, fiction, historical, sci-fi
This is a brilliantly gripping story.

Without getting into spoiler-level details, there are plenty of mysteries here for the reader to guess at, although all will eventually be revealed. The characterizations and the author's use of narrator's perspectives manipulate the reader's emotions and attitudes towards the characters deliciously well.

The plot, in addition to the writing style, is immediately engaging. You won't want to take breaks in reading this book (though parts do benefit from the reflection). ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43114745 to: Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order (Hardcover) by Steven H. Strogatz
bookshelves: non-fiction, pop-sci
This book is an interesting look at a number of phenomena that aren't as curious as the author makes them out to be.

The book focuses on instances of "spontaneous order-seeking" in nature. Cases where things start irregular, but tend towards an equilibrium which is ordered. Now, before you go jumping about the Second Law of Thermodynamics, he's claiming this for living systems, and at the macroscopic level -- he's talking about things like certain species of fireflies which spontaneously synchronize their flashes, or about how women will begin to cycle together if they live in close proximity. So there's agency involved in here, he's not claiming that some types of pottery shards, when dropped, will spontaneously rearrange into a dish.

He doesn't get terribly in-depth into these subjects (it's not a journal article), but he does have lots of interesting examples, and discusses the kinds of information/communication problems that have to be overcome for this kind of syncing-up to work. I'd recommend this book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43113965 to: Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World (Paperback) by Nicholas Ostler
bookshelves: history, languages, massive-loosely-supported-thematic-, non-fiction
This is an absolutely fascinating, dreadfully boring book.

If you're at all interested in how dominant languages have spread and evolved, and how they impacted the linguistic development of all other languages in their regions, then stay away. If you're REALLY interested in small details of this subject, then this might be a good book for you.

Nick Ostler has this tendency, also, to latch on to small bits of evidence and make much of it. He's usually clear that he's doing this; he says, "We don't really know, but this is the way that I think makes the story most interesting, and there is some evidence for it, so I'm going to choose to believe it was this way." That's fine, and he's clear about it; and it's not like the book is poorly researched (there's hundreds and hundreds of footnotes). But he does recognize that the needs of a coherent story/worldview require that we take a few things on less evidence than we'd like.

Finally, the book is peppered throughout with lots of source-language citations for pretty much every language that he talks about. It opens up with an extensive passage in romanized Quechua, for instance. I thought this was awesome; although I wasn't entirely convinced that his (or his advisors) had written everything precisely right, and trying to get one's head around the numerous different romanization systems (to get a sense of what the languages actually sounded like and how they worked, his stated point in including these quotes) got really difficult. It's an admirable goal, but I don't think that it really worked as intended.

All that said, this was a dry book about a totally fascinating subject, and if you're interested enough in the subject, you'll put up with reading the book. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/43012198 to: The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece (Hardcover) by Simon Winchester
bookshelves: biography, history, non-fiction
A fascinating look at the life of an interesting historical character, as well as what it was like to live in the Cambridge of the '20s and '30s, and the China of the World War (the one that was actually fought worldwide). Of course, I've got some personal interest, since my senior thesis topic actually would not have existed without Needham and, more importantly, the rediscovery of science in China which he prompted.

I wish it had discussed more of the content of Needham's books. Oh well, there's only so much space, and the "scenery" of this biography is truly excellent; one really gets the sense of the world in which the main character moved. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42925226 to: In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Hardcover) by Michael Pollan
bookshelves: non-fiction
Continuing in the same vein as The Omnivore's Dilemma (also an excellent book), this book is an interesting and engaging look at the best in current wisdom about what to eat. Unsurprisingly, that best current wisdom doesn't come from scientists or nutrition-publicizers, whose careers are based on the one hand on an incomplete view of what makes food nutritious, and on the other, on making sure that people keep buying new advice.

Instead, Pollan argues that the best food knowledge is the food wisdom of traditional eating cultures, which have mostly been displaced by a "scientific" (or, better yet, scientistic) perspective that fails to identify all of the correct variables of food's effects on the body. For instance, the pairing of foods into meals, the amount eaten, and the social role of food in traditional cultures, Pollan argues, are part of a package that makes certain foods healthy, and gives them a place within a balanced diet; while the scientific-nutritionist perspective might identify only the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) of which we are currently aware, plus a subset of the vitamins in food. Perhaps, Pollan argues, there is more to the food's value than simply the compounds we know about.

This is not meant as a critique of the scientific method of inquiry (of the sort embraced by too many self-impressed postmodernists) but of the current state of nutritional science, and if anything, it voices a respect for evolution: in this case, the evolution of sustainable food cultures, those which evolved over hundreds of years of people discovering ways to eat well with the materials available. Pollan would like those entire areas opened up for exploration--and preservation in the face of the food-industry-driven displacement of an entire body of knowledge about food.

This book will inspire you to eat better than you do, even if it is not necessarily an easy task for those of us who have grown up isolated from traditional food cultures. ]]>