Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is a couple hundred pounds of chains bearing down on the reader. A father who writes about the race in America in the time just before #BlackLivesMatter attempts to put into words what it means. This stands out as…
In the 90s, Lucasfilm strongly pushed the Star Wars novels. Timothy Zahn wrote the Thrawn Trilogy. I probably bought as many as 50 Star Wars books wanting to read about what what happened next, before, and during the movies. I suspect the strength of all our interest is what made Episodes I-III possible. And Disney…
(Original ; First Quarter ; Half ; Third-Quarter ; Final) For the first quarter, I should have progressed about 25%. So, let’s see where I am. Read 52 books. First quarter goal: 13 books. I have actually finished 12. Hit 20,000 pages. First quarter goal: 5,000 pages. I have actually finished 3,408. Read politically. Total 10. First quarter goal: 2.5 books. A Nation…
Philip K. Dick Is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop My rating: 5 of 5 stars An excellent Dickian story in the irreverence that he would appreciate. The current fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the current environment made this a compelling read. The parallels between the Richard Nixon character and US politics reminded me of the…
The Google Photos Rediscover This Day feature felt I needed reminding of today five years ago. It is true that I took some photos (1,2,3) while on a beach trip. And it is also true that I cherish these photos. But it is also true I cherish them because they make me weepy and sad.…
Every time I go through movies I have bought and try to redeem the digital copy, I suspect the companies make the process so difficult that no one will actually do it. Companies like the gift card racket because they get the money and recipients hold on to them for far too long. Movie companies charge…
What are the “Top 5 Books” that have molded your mindset and outlook on life? Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness: introduced me to behavioral economics and helped me learn how to disrupt obsessing over indecision. Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection: counter-intuitively it exposed me to figuring out that…
A Nation of Immigrants by John F. Kennedy My rating: 5 of 5 stars I was interested in reading this because JFK was the grandson of Irish immigrants. The Irish (and Italians, Chinese, and others) at one point were the targets of the kinds of language we saw just recently during the 2016 presidential election.…
So, out of the many books I read this prior year, here are the ones I gave five stars. To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science by Weinberg, Steven Thinking: The New Science of Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Prediction in Life and Markets by Brockman, John The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Isaacson,…