Amazon link Like The Humane Interface, I picked this up when a friend was giving it away. I read most of it last month, and then finally finished it over Thanksgiving weekend. Brin is asking an interesting question: is privacy a lost cause? And, if so, what is the proper way to respond? His suggestion […]
Category: books
Paladin of Souls, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Amazon link I adore the Vorkosigan series, by Bujold, but haven’t warmed quite as much to her fantasy series set in Chalion. I borrowed the first one, The Curse of Chalion, from the library, and it was a good read, but not particularly memorable; in fact, I recall almost no details of it at this […]
I’m an Amazon Associate!
Yes, that’s right. I have no idea if I get anybody actually reading my book review pages, but I figured that if they were, and they wanted to read some of the books I recommended, I might as well link to Amazon and possibly reap the rewards of my recommendation. So you can either click […]
Why haven’t I been reading?
Those two of you who actually look at this site may wonder why I haven’t posted any book reviews in over a month. Lots of reasons. Things got busy at work. I got a new car, so I was driving instead of taking public transit to work, which cut into my reading time. I took […]
The Liaden universe, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
(originally posted 9/4/03, fixed links on 11/17/03) After reading Partners in Necessity, I said I’d go pick up the rest of the series. Which I did. The day after. And then read most of it over a three-day weekend. And I really enjoyed the rest of it. So I recommend the whole set now. In […]
Quantum Psychology, by Robert Anton Wilson
I saw this book while looking around on Amazon for books related to Korzybski’s Science and Sanity (much like how I found Hayakawa’s book). I picked it up because I’ve read two of Wilson’s sci-fi trilogies, the Illuminatus trilogy and the Schrodinger’s Trilogy. I liked them, but they were very weird, so I was surprised […]
The Humane Interface, by Jef Raskin
Jef Raskin was one of the primary designers of the Apple Macintosh, and has been respected in the human-computer interaction field ever since. I’d been meaning to pick up this book ever since I first read about it in the Good Experience newsletter. So when a friend was giving his copy away, I grabbed it. […]
The Tummy Trilogy, by Calvin Trillin
Trillin wrote a series of articles for the New Yorker over the course of 15 years called “U.S. Journal”. As part of that, every now and then he’d throw in an article about eating, as he tasted some outstanding local cuisine someplace. Mind you, he’s not necessarily talking about fancy haute cuisine, something which he […]
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale, ed. by James B. South
As a fairly rabid devotee of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and as somebody who likes thinking about deeper issues on occasion, this book was irresistible: a collection of articles by philosophy professors and students discussing how various philosophical theories are exemplified by Buffy. It’s interesting how many different ways the same episodes can be viewed. […]
Characters and Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card
When I was in high school and college, Orson Scott Card was one of my favorite writers. Several of his books are still among my most cherished re-reads. And one of the main reasons for that was his powerful characterization. He made characters that I identified with and cared about. So when I happened across […]
