Inside the Publishing Revolution, by Pamela Pfiffner

The history of Adobe Systems is surprisingly interesting. The founders, John Warnock and Chuck Geschke, were visionaries in every sense of the word and their imagination reshaped the publishing industry. PostScript changed typesetting, Photoshop changed layout and design, and PDF changed printing itself. This book does a good job of describing the history of this revolution.

Inside the Publishing Revolution is told from an unflinchingly pro-Adobe point of view, but because the author doesn’t pretend to be unbiased it isn’t annoying. Being about Adobe, a company known for imagery, the book is gorgeous. Pictures are on nearly every page, many being creations by modern artists using only Adobe products. Truly, this is closer to a coffee table book than a corporate history. If only the same care had been taking with the copy editing.

The text is presented in chronological order, with scattered sidebars and inset time lines highlighting key and interesting events. Unfortunately, at times the text and the highlights aren’t well coordinated. The most egregious example is the note, “Geschke held for five days by kidnappers” in a sidebar; this is clearly a pretty intriguing fact, but there are no other details. Eleven pages later the kidnapping is explained, but for all the care taken with the images I found this to be really sloppy.

First Sentence:

If the modern publishing era began when Johannes Gutenberg developed movable type in Germany in the 1450s, its successor was the transformation that took root in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, when John Warnock and Chuck Geschke formed Adobe Systems.

100 Crooked Little Crime Stories, edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg

This was a pretty good grouping of crime stories. My favorite two were both extremely clever; Ferry Slip by Don James had a gas station attendant in the boonies trap a car full of armed bank robbers, and A Valentine From Teacher by Jim Knapp has the perfect crime solved without anyone knowing whom the investigator really was. New Blood by Gary Lovisi was another gem, where hunted nurses dole out a unique justice. Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart is another of my favorites included here, although along with Always Together by Allen Beck seems closer in theme to 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories than this volume.

There weren’t really any terrible stories here, although several were a bit pedestrian. One unfortunate bit of editing was Curt Hamlin’s All Sewed Up! and The Crimson Complex by G. Fleming-Roberts being just a few chapters apart; they both keyed on red-green blindness as a gimmick and could have used a lot more space between them. Overall though, a nice collection of short stories.

First Sentence (From the introduction):

How long does it take to plot and commit a serious crime?

The Scourge of God, by S.M. Stirling

The second book of the series is another 500+ page brick which takes our intrepid heroes only as far as Des Moines in their trek to Nantucket. The action and adventure are still there, and I’ll pick up the third volume when it is out, but at the rate things are moving the last entry of the trilogy will either be a whirlwind or require yet another book (or trilogy!) to wrap things up. Stirling takes an unfortunate turn from science-fiction into fantasy here: the “big bad” is able to send psychic messages and mentally control others. The original appeal of this series was seeing how normal people react to massive change, but this development of magic hurts the premise. I’m definitely losing my enthrallment with this particular universe.

First Sentence:

“We’d be a lot farther east if we’d gone the southern route,” Edain Aylward Mackenzie grumbled quietly.

The Sunrise Lands, by S.M. Stirling

This novel starts a new trilogy, following the children of the leads in Dies the Fire. In the near-future all electricity and combustion has been rendered impossible forcing a devolution to near feudal times. The center of the event that caused this drastic physical change is located in Nantucket, and the younger heroes embark on a journey there starting from Oregon. The plot is a well-worn quest across a savage country, being pursued by minions of an over-arching evil. For an action-filled ~500 pages, the travel is quite slow; the team only gets as far as Idaho in this volume. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the earlier series of books, but getting to see more of the post-Armageddon world keeps me interested.

First Sentence:

Ingolf Vogeler slapped his horse affectionately on the neck; he felt a little better now that the rain had stopped, even though it was the tag end of a chilly October day with a ragged sky the color of damp raw wool rolling in from the west.

The Valley-Westside War, by Harry Turtledove

Another book in the Crosstime Traffic series, and better than either of the other two I’ve read. The alternate earth here differs in there was a nuclear war in 1967, and now 130 years later California is split into city-states around former neighborhoods. 1967 was recent enough so technology is known in an historical sense, although virtually none of it exists in the present day; this knowledge makes for a dicey time when the time travel chamber is discovered by the locals.

The reason this book is ahead of the others is nobody is really portrayed as stupid just because they are uneducated. Instead of being labeled as “magic” or “witchcraft” when discovered, the electric lights, refrigerator, and voice-activated locks are recognized for what they are. Grasping the concept of time-travel as a reality not only happens but is seen as a reasonable explanation for the existence of tech that can’t possibly exist anymore. There is even a small bit of philosophy thrown in: “What was the difference between superstition and religion generally? ... So far, most of what they said boiled down to What I believe is religion, and what those foolish people over there believe is superstition.” Sadly this examination isn’t advanced any further, because it was the most interesting section of the book. A young adult target audience is made evident with the linear plot and one-dimensional characters, but alternate history always fascinates me and I don’t regret picking this up.

First Sentence:

As Dan neared the top of the Sepulveda Pass, he saw the barricade the Westside had built across the 405.

How Good Is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley

A good friend of mine that is very devout gave me this hoping to change my opinions about religion. He didn’t succeed, but I appreciate having people in my life that obviously care. I also love that we continue to be friends despite our very different beliefs. Stanley attempts to make the case here that “Good people don’t go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven.” This is exactly the sort of holier-than-thou thinking that irritates me about religion. Fairness—to me, anyway—would say that a “good” person would go to heaven and an “evil” person would not, regardless of asking God for forgiveness.

If there truly is only one heaven, is it really fair to deny admittance to a good person that honestly believed in Buddhism where there is no eternal soul? I certainly don’t think so. This system also seems to imply that heaven won’t accept you until you are aware enough to ask for forgiveness. My brief stint in Catholic school taught me a lot of rituals that I didn’t come close to understanding—and introduced me to my first bully. “Christianity is the fairest possible system in a world that is irreversibly unfair.” We both said the same things and were assured forgiveness. Clearly neither the bully nor myself understood what we were asking, but we did ask. The Buddhist didn’t, but he is the one left out. How is that fair?

Another line that particularly upset me: “And don’t make the mistake of lumping the disciples of Christ in with all the fine individuals who have given their lives for causes through the ages.” I guess in the eyes of the Lord we are all equal, except for the original disciples who are better than the rest of us. A willingness to die for a belief is a powerfully admirable trait, but you aren’t going to convince me that a soldier that lays down his life to protect his friends and country, or the firemen and policemen that rushed to the Twin Towers on 9/11 are somehow less worthy than someone that simply happened to be one of the first of many to be persecuted due to a belief in Christ. I find that flat-out offensive, and proof of the arrogance that pervades organized religion.

First Sentence:

The story is told of a Sunday school teacher whose assignment was to explain to the six-year-olds in his class what someone had to do in order to go to heaven.

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, by Tucker Max

Tucker Max is one of the most reprehensible human beings to ever write a book. It also happens to be possibly the funniest book I’ve ever read. I took I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell on an airplane and found myself literally laughing out loud more than once. The lovely British lady across the aisle asked to see what was so clearly amusing me and I passed her my copy. After she read the title and back cover, it was coolly handed back to me without a word—she wouldn’t even look at me for the rest of the flight. Yeah, it is that kind of a book!

Max sleeps with any woman he can, drinks himself to oblivion with his friends, and ridicules every one else he meets. He is rude, crude, and has an ego the size of New Jersey. Instead of these traits making him become that asshole at the end of the bar hitting on everything that moves, though, he started blogging about his exploits, turned the blog into this book, and the book into a movie. A big of a raunchy jerk as Max seems to be, I think I’m jealous!

Instead of a review, I will just post these quotes:

• “I barely remember what she looked like (thank you, Dollar Beer Night).”
• “We decide that we are starting to like Texas. Baby Dolls does nothing to derail our crazy train.”
• “Don’t let anyone tell you different: The only good part about Duke is that it is 15 minutes from UNC-Chapel Hill.”
• “He’s the type of drunk that makes you wonder why alcohol is classified as a depressant.”
• “You have not heard a girl scream during sex until you’ve heard a deaf girl come. It was literally like a cross between a retard scream and the noise a horse makes when it’s being slaughtered.”
• “She was 18 and had left Florida State two months into her freshman year because it was too difficult... She was literally just too stupid for Florida State. TOO STUPID FOR "FREE SHOE UNIVERSITY!"”
• “If you EVER speak ill of the McGriddle again I will personally force-feed you one while I fuck you in the butt using the wrapper as a condom and then donkey punch you when the infused syrup nuggets explode in your mouth.”

These perfectly capture the tone of the book: offensive, misogynistic, and laugh-out-loud funny.

First Sentence:

I used to think that Red Bull was the most destructive invention of the past 50 years.

Memories of the Future, by Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton is a truly funny man. Memories of the Future is an hilariously irreverent collection of reviews of the first thirteen episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation—a show on which the author starred. Being both an actor and a fan of the show as well as a writer himself, Wheaton brings a unique viewpoint to all aspects of the show that are evident through the constant humor.

While reviewing episode Where No One Has Gone Before, when a warp drive experiment gone awry causes the crew to experience hyper-realistic visions, Wheaton pens one of my favorite observations: “Not all the hallucinations are bad, though: one crew member is seen playing a violin with a classic string quartet, another is dancing a ballet, and Picard stops to have tea with his mother. Of course, the audience’s suspension of disbelief is tested when Troi and Dr. Crusher walk past male crew members and remain entirely clothed. Picard figures out that what they think becomes reality, and he orders everyone to go to general quarters and concentrate on the 1976 Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders having a pillowfight.” This is a perfect capsule of what Wheaton imparts: thoughtful observations on the writing, an understanding of what the fans watching are really thinking, and snarky humor.

I’d seen early forms of these reviews on Wheaton’s blog and still found myself laughing out loud more than once when reading. The more serious sections are also really interesting, especially when he discusses why Wesley Crusher (the character he played on the show) became so widely hated by the fan base. My only disappointment is that there is no schedule for Volume 2’s release so I don’t know how long I have to wait for the next batch!

First Sentence (From the Introduction):

In August 2006, Brad Hill, an editor at Weblogs, Inc., hired me to write humorous reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation from my unique point of view as an actor and a fan of the show.

American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

What if all the gods that were ever worshiped were real, but their power waxed and waned depending on how many followers were alive? Told with Gaiman’s typical wit and style, American Gods explores this idea. Not only the old gods like Odin, Kali, and Anubis appear, but the concept is cleverly updated to include the new gods of the Internet, mass media, and black ops. The plot follows Shadow, a recent ex-con serving as bodyguard and man Friday to the mysterious Mr. Wednesday; set against that journey is the larger story of a brewing war between the old and new gods for supremacy. The setting is almost a third character in itself: in the old world gods flocked to places of power like Stonehenge and the Labyrinth of Knossos, but here more eclectic places like the House on the Rock and Rock City are favored. The dichotomy of old and new pervades the book and adds a great deal of depth to the story. Even at close to 600 pages, the novel was a quick read and nearly impossible to put down. Truly excellent.

First Sentence:

Shadow had done three years in prison.

Agile Testing, by Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory

Agile isn’t about speed, it is about quality. While speed is obviously an attractive element of the methodology, if the resulting software is buggy then it doesn’t really matter how quickly it gets released. For many teams, especially young ones, how to work QA into a sprint cycle isn’t clear. This book is an excellent treatise into how testing and agile can work hand in hand.

Unlike waterfall processes, there usually isn’t a separate team responsible for testing in agile. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for traditional QA personnel, though; in fact, a QA skill set is even more important because without a dedicated test team, developers end up doing more of the testing work. With dev executing test cases, the QA folks can apply themselves to exploratory testing, usability testing, and generally non-developer-think testing. The authors state “successful projects are a result of good people allowed to do good work;” this mix of skills and duties is what allows for both speed and quality to be maintained in a project.

What makes this book great, though, is that it covers not only roles and methods of agile testing, but metrics as well. Metrics are always an interesting topic in agile, because each self-organizing team will have different methods, making measurements difficult to standardize. The authors recognize this, and wisely warn against reading too much into the measures, too. “Having the number of unit tests go up every day is a nice bit of feedback... However, it is important to recognize that the number itself means nothing.” In this sense, the implication is that a large number of useless tests doesn’t add value, even if the metric is always increasing.

Easy to read, Gregory and Crispin have authored a very useful reference that should be on the shelf of every agile team.

First Sentence:

“Agile” is a buzzword that will probably fall out of use someday and make this book seem obsolete.

Coders at Work, by Peter Seibel

Fifteen prominent software engineers are interviewed here, focusing on the craft of programming, on how these people approach solving everyday problems in our business. The book evokes a feeling of a computer science version of Inside the Actor’s Studio. Questions like “How did you start programming?” and “What books should every programmer read?” and “What is the hardest bug you’ve ever had to track down?” lead to very interesting conversations about both the person being interviewed and the industry itself.

Surprisingly, these luminaries don’t consistently agree with each other about what is and isn’t important when coding. For instance, Brendan Eich is not a fan of design patterns: “Patterns are really just flaws in your programming language. Get a better programming language.” In the next interview, Joshua Bloch says, “[A book] I still think everyone should read is Design Patterns. It gives us a common language.” There is an element of truth in both opinions, which sparked an interesting conversation at our book club.

I also liked Peter Norvig’s opinion on TDD: “I think test-driven design is great. I do that a lot more than I used to. But you can test all you want and if you don’t know how to approach the problem, you’re not going to get a solution.” There is (rightly) a huge emphasis on testing and software quality these days, and I find it refreshing to find someone that recognizes that all the testing in the world is useless if the software doesn’t actually do what it is supposed to.

Donald Knuth, Guy Steele, Jamie Zawinski (who sounds like an ass), Fran Allen, Brad Fitzpatrick, Dan Ingalls, Douglas Crockford, L Peter Deutsch, Joe Armstrong, Bernie Cosell, Simon Peyton Jones, and Ken Thompson are the other interviews found here. With such diverse backgrounds, common themes such as a dissatisfaction with the level of complexity and size of programs today become even more visible. While I do more (shudder) management than coding these days, I still found this fascinating and recommend it to anyone in the software industry.

First Sentence (From the Introduction):

Leaving aside the work of Ada Lovelace—the 19th century countess who devised algorithms for Charles Babbage’s never-completed Analytical Engine—computer programming has existed as a human endeavor for less than one human lifetime: it has been only 68 years since Konrad Zuse unveiled his Z3 electro-mechanical computer in 1941, the first working general-purpose computer.

Shatnerquake, by Jeff Burk

Imagine a world where celebrity rules supreme, where entertainment stars are worshiped as deities, where actors are blurred with the characters they play. (No, not this world!) Here, William Shatner is a mega-star and a bit of a conceited ass. (Still not this world!) He is attending ShatnerCon, a convention to honor him, when the followers of a rival (Bruce Campbell, naturally) detonate a Reality Bomb, which brings all the fictional characters Shatner has ever portrayed to life. Unfortunately for the real William Shatner, the copies all have a single goal: to kill the original!

Not even 100 pages long, this had me in stitches. The idea of Captain Kirk, Mirror Universe Captain Kirk, Denny Crane, T.J. Hooker, Bob Wilson, the Negotiator, everyone Shatner has played all running around trying to kill each other is fantastic. The farce gets more violent (and even funnier!) as the various characters begin to interact, and when Kirk finds a working lightsaber it spirals completely out of control. This is a hilarious read, so over-the-top that you don’t even notice how ridiculous it all is because you are laughing so hard!

First Sentence:

Sniveling little sycophantic shits, thought William Shatner looking from the limo’s back seat.

Without Fail, by Lee Child

Jack Reacher is a badass. This novel opens with him being asked to find the holes in the security detail for the Vice President of the United States by planning a theoretical assassination. In most stories with this plot the attempt actually takes place and the hero is framed for the act, but the author doesn’t fall into this common pit. Instead he is taken into the inner circle of the Secret Service and the action keeps accelerating from there. Without Fail is a real page turner building to a satisfying conclusion. I’ve become a huge fan of Child’s work and look forward to the next one!

First Sentence:

They found out about him in July and stayed angry all through August.

One Shot, by Lee Child

A suburban assassin kills five people in a public plaza in Indiana, but is captured that same day. All he will say upon arrest though, is, “They got the wrong guy. Get Jack Reacher for me.” Child has some great hooks in his Reacher novels, but this one is one of my favorites. The mystery of why a killer with mounds of evidence pointed at him asks for a former investigator instead of a lawyer and the secondary problem of what really happened are both quite compelling. While we clearly know that Reacher is going to be fine at the conclusion, several of his colleagues are placed in real jeopardy and because Child doesn’t use many recurring characters the tension is palpable. It is a shame that Child doesn’t have more people reappear in later novels actually; he rivals Parker (of Spenser fame) for creating interesting secondary personae and I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some of these folks in more than one novel.

First Sentence:

Friday.

The Hard Way, by Lee Child

In The Hard Way Reacher gets involved with a group of ex-military goons running a private investigation into the kidnapping of the group’s leader’s wife and daughter. What started as professional courtesy, though, turns more sinister when Reacher discovers the first wife was also kidnapped five years ago, ending in a murder. Until the exciting conclusion this is less violent than previous outings but more than makes up for it with the puzzles Reacher has to solve during his sleuthing. Intelligent and clever are words that apply to both the book and the hero; Child has another winner here.

First Sentence:

Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived at his table he saw a man’s life change forever.

Flex 3 in Action, by Tariq Ahmed, Jon Hirschi, and Faisal Abid

I had said earlier I wasn’t going to read any more of the ... in Action series, but there were a few copies of Flex 3 in Action lying around the office so I took a chance. While it wasn’t as bad as the others I’ve tried, I was still left unimpressed. The text is little more than a walk-through of the various Flex API’s, but not detailed enough to be a reference manual and not enough explanation to be a teaching guide. Skip this book and instead look at the excellent video training series that Adobe hosts, or poke around on the Flex Cookbook site.

First Sentence:

This chapter makes the case why Flex is a great addition to your personal skill set or organization.

The First American, by H.W. Brands

Benjamin Franklin was a scientist, inventor, philosopher, author, scholar, businessman, and diplomat—a true Renaissance man. I knew the highlights (creator of the first public library and first fire department, inventor of bifocals and the Franklin stove and the lightning rod, one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence, Ambassador to France, ...) but was still surprised at how much else there was to the man. He was an accomplished musician and composer and even invented an instrument: the armonica. He was one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania, organized the Pennsylvania Militia, and established the first hospital in North America. He even charted and named the Gulf Stream during his many Atlantic crossings. Frankin had a wry sense of humor as well; Poor Richard’s Almanack contains some of his funniest work, with my favorite being the aphorism, “Force shits upon reason’s back.”

Despite being known as one of the fathers of the Revolution, originally Franklin believed that America should remain a part of Britain but governed separately (like Canada) instead of directly by Parliament. As he spent more and more time in England he became disgusted by the corruption of the British government and after a public humiliation he changed his beliefs. “The essence of the Revolution was the triumph of virtue over vice.” I was saddened to read about how venal Parliament was at this point in history; the descriptions could easily apply to our American government of today. Regardless, the examination of Franklin’s politics were the most interesting parts of the book. While no McCullough, Brands has written an excellent book.

First Sentence:

Cotton Mather was the pride of New England Puritanism.

A Slight Trick of the Mind, by Mitch Cullin

Sherlock Holmes is a character that has captivated the world and authors continue to craft tales about his exploits 120 years after his introduction. Sadly, Cullin decided to join the ranks of Holmesian writers; A Slight Trick of the Mind is a truly terrible effort. Holmes is 93 here, and long since retired. He is still healthy enough to travel to Japan, where he finds his host wants information about someone from Holmes’ past; Holmes doesn’t remember this man, but lies to make his host feel better. Lying to obtain information is something that fits with Holmes’ character, but to do so simply comfort a stranger seemed at odds with the myth. Cullin also sees fit to replace Irene Adler as “the woman” in Holmes’ life with a beauty that has no apparent intellectual depth. These jarring departures from the accepted mythology are I suppose intended to make us look at the famous detective from another angle, but instead simply rang false.

It is unfortunate that the main character is the famous Sherlock Holmes, actually. The story is well-written and the depiction of a mentally sharp mind that is losing touch with his surroundings is both honest and heartbreaking. Familial bonds are also examined from various viewpoints in a fairly significant fashion. If the protagonist was anyone but Holmes, my opinion would have been very different; the fact remains that this is a Sherlock Holmes mystery, however, and that caused the entire premise to suffer greatly.

First Sentence:

Upon arriving from his travels abroad, he entered his stone-built farmhouse on a summer’s afternoon, leaving the luggage by the front door for his housekeeper to manage.

Complications, by Atul Gawande

I have a fair amount of distrust for the medical profession. Much of this distrust is admittedly irrational; I project unpleasant personal experiences with individuals onto the entire profession which I know is unfair. The physician that operated on my wife’s brain tumor and saved her life a decade ago has my endless thanks, but the dozen of separate doctors that before the procedure kept sending her home with a migraine diagnosis have had a more profound impact on my opinions. When I came across this account of the industry written by a surgeon, I was interested to see if my views could be altered.

Gawande does a fantastic job of honestly looking at how we educate and train surgeons. There simply isn’t any way to gain experience other than doing something, and every surgeon at one point conducts his first operation. This makes sense to me, but I was a bit disturbed at how the doctors aren’t always forthcoming about this fact. While we all want to think that our doctors are the ones directly caring for us, the reality is that interns do a huge amount of the work. I agree with the conclusion that some deception here makes for a more comfortable patient, it seems unfair to be charged the same regardless of the experience of the person wielding the scalpel.

Another interesting discussion is on how mistakes are handled in medicine. Gawande looks at research into defects from many professions and concludes, “Not only do all human beings err, but they err frequently and in predictable, patterned ways.” He goes on to say malpractice lawsuits don’t reduce errors, and in fact probably contribute to them because it makes the industry less likely to admit mistakes which is a key part of reducing or eliminating them in the future. Academic hospitals are trying to counter this aversion to admitting errors in a weekly meeting called a Morbidity and Mortality Conference but this is an internal, private discussion. It seems that the profession at large could greatly benefit from sharing the results of these meetings, but with our culture’s seeming love affair with lawsuits I don’t see more public airings of mistakes happening anytime soon.

After my pleasant discovery that at least the author is frustrated at the difficulty in improving health care, a discussion about a doctor’s responsibility to steer patients to do the “right thing” renewed my original cynical view. Gawande believes that a doctor should hold his beliefs in a higher regard than the patients. “A good physician cannot simply stand aside when patients made bad or self-defeating decisions—decisions that go against their deepest goals.” This kind of arrogant thinking drives me crazy: when I talk with my doctor I want to be presented with all options and consequences, not just the one the physician believes I should choose.

It is comforting to see that at least one surgeon recognizes that there are many more things that can be done to improve quality, but the reality that virtually none of these are likely is unfortunate. Gawande does a good job of demonstrating his heart and honesty, and he made what I see as a largely arrogant profession much more personable. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, but I still cast a largely cynical eye towards modern medical practices.

First Sentence:

The patient needed a central line.

Finding Moon, by Tony Hillerman

I’ve enjoyed Hillerman’s tales of Leaphorn and friends, but Finding Moon isn’t in that series. Moon Mathias is the main character here, and I found him to be a whiny, selfish, and unappealing lead. The story is somewhat interesting and the setting vividly described, but the characters are one-dimensional and dry. Not Hillerman’s best work.

First Sentence:

Shirley was giving Moon the caller-on-hold signal when he came through the newsroom door.

Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers, by Robert M. Sapolsky

Preventative medicine can counteract many adverse health situations, especially stress-related ones. The nervous system has two halves, one that is activated by stress and one that is suppressed by it. The sympathetic nervous system is turned on when life gets exciting or alarming, governed by “the four F’s of behavior—flight, fight, fright, and sex.” The parasympathetic nervous system is the other half, controlling calm activities such as sleep, growth, digestion, etc. Together, they control how our body works and this book shows exactly how; if we don’t manage our stress the book also describes how our health can suffer.

While containing a lot of medical and anatomical terms, the text is quite readable and in fact quite humorous in places. (“Are you overwhelmed and intimidated by these terms, wondering if you should have bought some Deepak Chopra self-help book instead?”) The light tone and amusing anecdotes made a complicated subject reasonably straight-forward and accessible. I learned a lot here and found myself enjoying a book that I initially wasn’t excited about reading.

First Sentence:

It’s two o’clock in the morning and you’re lying in bed.

Last Car to Elysian Fields, by James Lee Burke

Dave Robicheaux is an alcoholic detective working in southern Louisiana; this is the third book in which he stars I’ve read. The plot is a bit crazy, including a decades old murder of a blues guitarist, a tragic car crash that kills three teenagers, and a hired killer that masquerades as a priest. You don’t read Burke for the stories, though; you read Burke for the rich and evocative descriptions. “New Orleans wasn’t a city. It was an outdoor mental asylum located on top of a giant sponge.” Or, “Lightning rippled like quicksilver across the thunderheads in the south, and the sugarcane in the fields along the road to St. Martinville thrashed and flickered in the wind and rain, the oak canopy blowing leaves that stuck like leeches on my windshield.” I love imagery like this; it makes the literary experience so much richer.

First Sentence:

The first week after Labor Day, after a summer of hot wind and drought that left the cane fields dust blown and spiderwebbed with cracks, rain showers once more danced across the wetlands, the temperature dropped twenty degrees, and the sky turned the hard flawless blue of an inverted ceramic bowl.

Persuader, by Lee Child

Another Jack Reacher novel, another winner. The first chapter is a roller-coaster ride with Reacher accidentally shooting a cop while foiling a kidnapping, and it doesn’t slow down after that. Child weaves two gripping stories together, one in the present and flashbacks of the past. The two come together with the revelation that the villain in both is the same supposedly already dead man. There were many clues along the way that didn’t appear to make sense, but a twist towards the end neatly explained them all in a way that was truly surprising and not at all contrived. Entertaining and well-written, this is a perfect novel for an afternoon escape.

First Sentence:

The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot.

100 Things Longhorn Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, by Jenna McEachern

As most folks that know me can attest, I do love my Longhorns! I finished this the day before the first game of the season and it certainly helped to put me in the right frame of mind. It should really have been called 100 Things Longhorn Football Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die because virtually every item is either about football or strongly related, but then football is the lifeblood of the University so I suppose that should be expected!

The book is a series of vignettes covering the history and traditions of Longhorn football. Sections on places (Memorial Stadium, the Drag, the Cotton Bowl), people (Vince Young, Clyde Littlefield, Rooster Andrews), and important years and decades make up the bulk of it, and McEachern admirably captures the essence of them all. For instance, when discussing the Texas-OU game she mentions Robert Heard’s quote, “There is no rivalry to rival this one.” She follows it with, “Just reading those quotes [sic] makes you want to drive to Dallas tomorrow. It makes your mouth water, makes your heart pump faster, and makes your breathing shallow.” Well said! Another fun story: Yards After Contact is a common football statistic; it turns out that UT was reportedly the first school to track it, although at the time it was called “Yards Made by [Earl] Campbell After First Hit by a Tackler.”

In places this book was entirely too repetitive and could have used some judicious editing. At one point we learn “the day Texas football was truly born was November 30, 1893, when The University of Texas Foot Ball Club accepted a challenge from the Dallas Foot Ball Club, the self-proclaimed champions of Texas.” On the very next page we are told “no game was more crucial than the very first one, when the Texas Varsity stormed into hostile territory to challenge the Dallas Foot Ball Club, self-proclaimed "champions of Texas."” This particular tidbit gets mentioned elsewhere too, but to be found on facing pages is a bit too redundant for me. Another oddity was the seeming lack of logic behind what items had dedicated sections and what ones were combined into overviews. For instance, the World’s Largest Texas Flag didn’t get it’s own section—it had to share with the Hex Rally and Pig Bellmont in the More Traditions category. However, both the color PMS 159 (burnt orange, naturally) and the tunnel at the Cotton Bowl got their own entries—with the actual Cotton Bowl getting yet another! Seems like odd logic to me, but the stories were all still entertaining.

First Sentence:

The University of Texas was legislated to be great.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

This is a fast read—about 200 pages but a small size, large font, and vacuous phrasing. The simplicity is a good indication of the ideas contained within however; Lencioni’s approach to what makes an effective team is remarkably simple too. In order, a team needs trust, healthy debate, commitment, accountability, and rewarding results. You can’t skip any of these phases along the way; e.g., without trust it isn’t possible to have unfiltered discussions. Simple and obvious, like many of the popular business theories today. Unlike some popular theories though, these have the ring of truth.

This is a fable book, like The Goal or Virtual Leadership. The story in Five Dysfunctions was clumsy and contrived, but the points it tries to make come across well. It was hard to see how some of these techniques would work in the real world where people have multiple motivations and are more complex than cartoon characters, but the assessment template and discussions that close the book seem very useful. Despite the mixed review this is well worth your time, but make sure this isn’t the only book you take on an airplane!

First Sentence:

DecisionTech was located in Half Moon Bay, a foggy, coastal farming town just over the hills from San Francisco Bay.

The Emperors of Chocolate, by Joël Glenn Brenner

This examination of the world of “big chocolate” was fascinating. I was shocked to find out both how massive these corporations are, and how few of them exist. “M&M’s alone generate more revenue than Camel cigarettes or Maxwell House coffee. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the nation’s No. 3 brand (owned by Hershey), outsells such well-known products as Advil and Ivory Soap. ... Mars is bigger than such corporate giants as RJR Nabisco, McDonald’s and Kellogg.” There are really only four major players in the mass-market candy industry: Mars, Hershey, Cadbury, and Nestlé. In America Mars and Hershey rule the candy aisle, with a staggering number of recognizable treats belonging to them. Mars owns M&M’s, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Dove Chocolate, Twix, Kudos, Skittles, Starburst, and the entire Wrigley Company (not to mention Banfield—The Pet Hospital, Whiskas, Pedigree, and Uncle Ben’s Rice). Hershey has all the various incarnations of the Hershey Bar and Kisses, as well as Symphony, Special Dark, Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, 5th Avenue, Almond Joy, Mounds, Heath, Kit Kat, Milk Duds, Reese’s, Whoppers, Jolly Rancher, PayDay, Bubble Yum, Breath Savers, and Twizzlers. These companies are surprisingly secretive as well; recipes and costs are obviously important trade secrets, but the Mars corporation wouldn’t even confirm the founder had ever worked for the company after his death!

The author does an effective job of describing the mysteries of chocolate; many people believe the taste is so complicated that it rivals scotch and wine to sophisticated palates. Odd words such as “mouthfeel” are commonly used, and the descriptions of how subtle differences in ingredients can have a huge impact on the resulting flavor were quite interesting. Learning about how the industry has grown from being simply large kitchens to modern factories in just the last 100 years was also captivating. For instance, in the Hershey factory before automation, “workers were known to pick up a Kiss, lick the bottom, dab it on the pile of tissues, then deposit that on the foil and twist. Not exactly sanitary, but fast.” This book is more than just a simple case study; it is an enthralling tale that I didn’t want to put down.

First Sentence:

Theo Leenders hadn’t moved from his desk all day.

Midnight Train to Memphis, by Derek B. Davis

I don’t remember where I came across this book, but it held my interest. The story and characters are interesting despite the Steven Seagal-ish plot: a proud veteran framed by a corrupt businessman gathers his military friends to fight back and clear his name. Gambling, smuggling, murder, and rape give this a clearly adult tone, but the simple writing and large print give this a distinct young adult feel. The unevenness can be forgiven, though, as it is Davis’ first outing as an author and the promise shown here is intriguing.

First Sentence:

A new model Chevrolet Silverado passed by, leaving behind a gust of wind to part Ryan’s hair.

Zoe’s Tale, by John Scalzi

The fourth tale in the Old Man’s War series, this one is a little different than the others. Instead of a new story in the same universe, in the fashion of Ender’s Shadow and Wicked this tells a familiar tale from a different viewpoint. Scalzi did a good job of making a story we already know (The Last Colony) interesting and compelling. Told from the point of view of Zoë, the daughter of the protagonists of the previous novel, we visit the same events again but with a fresh outlook. Much like teenagers everywhere, they know much more about what is happening than the adults believe, and they sneak out and get into trouble without their parents ever finding out. Some of the dangling threads of the earlier book are wrapped up (like why the werewolves vanished) which was nice, but some of the characterizations were weak; Zoë’s friend Gretchen has an identical personality and outlook, coming off as a simple copy rather than a separate person. This makes a nice companion to The Last Colony, but it is the weakest in the series.

First Sentence:

The flying saucer landed on our front lawn and a little green man got out of it.

The Fencing Master, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

In The Club Dumas, Pérez-Reverte crafted a mystery with book sellers and lost manuscripts; here, the adventure revolves around fencing and 19th-century Spanish politics. Don Jaime Astarloa is the fencing master of the title, an older man who is expert in a dying art. A mysterious woman appears and wants to be taught the killing thrust for which he is famous, and his life starts to spiral out of control after that. Mix in secret political documents, a throne in jeopardy, and a noble man living in the past and an exciting thriller begins to unfold.

The Fencing Master was both captivating and well-written, but I simply don’t know enough about fencing to be drawn in to the obviously well-researched sections. I could follow the duels and the intensity of the fights came through well, but I suspect that there was an artistry that would have been more poignant if I was better versed in swordsmanship. I still loved the book, however, and look forward to others by this author!

First Sentence:

Much later, when Jaime Astarloa wanted to piece together the scattered fragments of the tragedy and tried to remember how it all began, the first image that came to his mind was of the marquis and of the gallery in the palace overlooking the Retiro Gardens, with the first heat of summer streaming in through the windows, accompanied by such brilliant sunlight that they had to squint against the dazzle on the polished guards of their foils.

Schulz and Peanuts, by David Michaelis

Charles M. Schulz was both a complicated and simple man. The beloved creator of Peanuts poured a lot of himself into his characters, but Charlie Brown is by no means Charles Schulz. Multiple affairs and a deep sadness marked Schulz’s life, who continually was depicted as a socially-awkward, self-involved man—far from the lovable loser in the funny papers. On the other hand, Sparky (Schulz’s nickname) remained a straightforward and down-to-earth person for his entire life, despite his fame and fortune. I suppose this oxymoronic behavior is fitting for a man that wrote a comic strip about children that waxed philosophical.

For a book about a humorist, there is very little humor found here; I find it surprising that a comic that ran for so long and was so amusing was created by a man that doesn’t seem that funny. I didn’t expect him to be cracking jokes constantly, but there wasn’t really any indication that Schulz had any comedy at all in his personality. While Schulz’s history is interesting, once I realized how many of his experiences made their way into the strip I found myself wanting more details on the backstory of Peanuts and less of the creator sitting at a coffee shop. Regardless, an interesting story that brought out many fond memories of reading the funnies as a kid.

First Sentence:

The great troop train, a quarter-mile of olive green carriages, rolled out of the depot and into the storm.

Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Why are some ideas remembered and others forgotten? That is the central idea discussed in Made to Stick. With a fair amount of humor and a plethora of anecdotes, the Heath brothers do a thorough job of examining this issue. There are six main qualities that make an idea sticky: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotion, and storytelling. Each of these are explored, and accompanied by credible examples such as the Don’t Mess With Texas campaign for emotion and Subway’s Jared campaign for storytelling. A sticky idea that has lasted for nearly 50 years was JFK’s call to “put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.” Simple, concrete, credible, emotional, and a story to remember. In contrast, the author’s say “Had John F. Kennedy been a CEO, he would have said, "Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives."” I’ve met several CEO’s that talk that way, none of them memorable.

As with many books, the humor is what I enjoyed the most. Buzzwords are depicted as the antithesis of concrete, abstract phrases that don’t really mean anything. A medical example: “idiopathic cardiomyopathy.” As described by the authors: “"Cardiomyopathty" means something is wrong with your heart, and "idiopathic" means "we have no idea why yours isn’t working."” Another funny bit a few pages later: “Remembering the capital of Kansas is an abstract exercise, unless you happen to live in Topeka. By contrast, when you think about "Hey Jude," you may hear Paul McCartney’s voice and piano playing. (If the phrase "Hey Jude" drew a blank, please exchange this book for a Beatles album. You’ll be happier.)” At the close, a long section on how to apply what was discussed to your own ideas boosts this book from interesting to truly useful. Clearly written and fun to read, this is a great book for examining how ideas are communicated. I enjoyed reading it.

First Sentence:

Every move an Army soldier makes is preceded by a staggering amount of planning, which can be traced to an original order from the president of the United States.

The Last Colony, by John Scalzi

Third in the Old Man’s War series, this installment tells the story of an experimental colony used as bait in a war. John Perry from the original novel takes center stage again, accompanied by Jane Sagan and Zoë from the sequel. Witty and imaginative, this volume is more about interstellar politics than the military action of the others. There was a bit of a deux ex machina near the conclusion and a few plot lines are left unsatisfied but overall Scalzi delivers another enjoyable romp.

First Sentence:

Let me tell you of the worlds I’ve left behind.

Longitude, by Dava Sobel

In this day and age we take knowing where we are on the planet for granted. I was surprised to discover how difficult a problem this was for sailors before the nineteenth century. Latitude could be discovered by watching the stars, but longitude didn’t have a reliable way of being measured. This caused an amazing amount of tragedy on the high seas, such as when Admiral Sir Clowdisley misjudged his longitude in the fog and sailed his armada into the rocks in 1707 losing almost two thousand men. This was such a large problem that most major governments offered a king’s ransom for the person that could create a device that solved the problem. The man that eventually claimed the prize wasn’t a scientist, engineer, or an astronomer, but a clockmaker. With so much money at stake, politics and professional jealousy worked against John Harrison, but he persevered and changed the face of navigation. I picked this up on a whim, but was glad I did—this was much more entertaining and interesting than I’d expected.

First Sentence:

Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved.

100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg

I’ve always liked ghost stories, but this collection was largely pedestrian and disappointing. Coming Home by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was one of the only truly unnerving stories, dealing with the ghosts of guilt instead of the more traditional apparitions. O Come Little Children... by Chet Williamson was my other favorite; the twist at the end of this one truly snuck up on me, and with most of the other stories being so predictable this was doubly surprising. While one or two tales are worthy of being told around the campfire, the vast majority are easily forgettable.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

The ghost story is the oldest type of supernatural tale, and thus the one closest to the European oral storytelling tradition.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D. H. Lawrence

Set in post WWI England, this is a story that examines the twin roles of sensuality and intellectualism in relationships. Lady Chatterley has a husband that is crippled from the waist down and unable to to sexually perform. Because they have a strong cerebral relationship at first the lack of physical intimacy isn’t an issue, but over time Lady Chatterley becomes less and less satisfied, eventually starting an affair. There are more than a few fairly explicit erotic sections which explains why this novel was banned in many countries for many years. More interesting though, is the message that Lawrence conveys: as important as an emotional and intellectual connection is in a relationship, a physical, sexual component is required for true happiness.

Written in the early part of the twentieth century, the style is stodgy but readable except when a speaker drops into the local, uneducated dialect. “Tha mun come one naight ter th’ cottage, afore tha goos; sholl ter?” And this isn’t the most obtuse passage! Lawrence has a sly sense of humor I liked, too. “Sex and a cocktail: they both lasted about as long, had the same effect, and amounted to about the same thing.” Overall I can’t say I loved the book, but I’m not sorry I read it either.

First Sentence:

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi

The sequel to Old Man’s War, this episode is told from the point of view of a member of Special Forces, a group of soldiers created from the DNA of the dead. I didn’t find this as inventive as Old Man’s War, but the plot was more interesting. One of the newly created Special Forces members has a memory overlay attempted but seems to fail. However, over time more and more of the other personality begins to break through; considering this other set of memories belong to a traitor, the table is set for an interesting action jaunt with some light examination of what it means to be an individual.

As with most of Scalzi’s writing, the sense of humor here is undeniable. In a scene where newly hatched soldiers are exploring pre-Colonial speculative fiction to learn about humanity, Scalzi gets to throw in his snide opinions on Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and the Star Wars series. “Everyone wanted a lightsaber and was irritated the technology for them didn’t really exist. Everyone also agreed the Ewoks should all die.” There is no mention of the chronologically first three Star Wars movies, so my assumption is they didn’t stand the test of time—as it should be!

First Sentence:

No one noticed the rock.

Farthing, by Jo Walton

Imagine a world where England made peace with Nazi Germany after the Battle of Dunkirk and World War II never really happened. Hilter overtook all of continental Europe and got into a prolonged war with Stalin, still going strong in the 1949 of the book. Against this setting we find a murder of a senior Parliment official in the opening pages. There are two voices telling the story, with each chapter flipping between them. Lucy Khan, a member of the Peerage disgraced by marrying a Jew, and Inspector Carmichael, a lowborn detective at Scotland Yard. While ostensibly only one story, each character is actually telling a slightly different one: Carmichael goes about solving the mystery, but Khan is really describing the slide of England into fascism. The characterization was weak, with most people falling into one of three categories: good, evil, or stupid. This made the whodunnit aspect fairly straightforward; I thought it was obvious what happened only a few chapters in. The politics are what makes the book interesting, however, and are presented in such a fashion that a fascist Britain becomes a very believable thing.

One throw-away line that made me smile was when it was mentioned that Guy Philby became junior minister at the Foreign Office. The name Guy Philby is a mashup of Guy Burgess and Kim Philby of the Cambridge Five, the most successful espionage ring ever uncovered. Walton also refers to the famous “scientifiction” book Nineteen Seventy-Four; ironically it was purchased as a gift for the framed suspect to take his mind off the situation. If the content was similar to our Nineteen Eighty-Four then I suspect it won’t be much of a distraction!

Overall I enjoyed the book, although it was a bit heavy-handed in places. The ending was really good, however, with the author not taking the easy way out by granting the protagonists happy endings and having the villains exposed. Instead, we get a more realistic yet disturbing finish, setting up the next book in the series.

First Sentence:

It started when David came in from the lawn absolutely furious.

Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi

Set in the near future where Earth is involved in an interstellar war, our hero joins the Colonial Defense Forces when he turns seventy-five. The Fountain of Youth hasn’t been found and neither has technology or medicine extended life-spans to hundreds of years, so what the army wants with the elder generation is the mystery explored in part I. Parts II is more straightforward space military fiction, and part III gives a closer look at the aliens along with a satisfying conclusion.

Scalzi writes in a fashion that is both engaging and smart, something I treasure in pulp fiction. For instance, part I ends with an excellent foreshadowing of what happens at the conclusion of part II, but is subtle enough so that you don’t realize it until it hits you in the face. Humor is prevalent as well, with the main character cracking jokes at which nobody laughs throughout. One of my favorite parts was when we find out the names our band of friends give to their personalized AIs: Asshole, Dipshit, Bitch, Dickwad, Fuckhead, Satan, and Sweetie. Clearly one of the crew wasn’t as disturbed as the rest when the AI was activated! I quite enjoyed this book and look forward to the sequel, The Ghost Brigades.

First Sentence:

I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, by Lauren Willig

I read the other day that Brad Meltzer said it is okay for men to read chick-lit so I’m not embarrassed at all to say I loved The Secret History of the Pink Carnation! Using the device of a book-within-a-book, this is set in both present day and in 18th century Europe in a world where the Scarlet Pimpernel was a real secret agent. We are introduced to Eloise, a modern grad student investigating the successors to the Pimpernel: the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. She is interesting, but the historical figures are where the book shines.

While a lot of fun, this doesn’t even try to be historically accurate. The women from the 18th century are sassy, well-educated, and would fit in to today’s society without any trouble; the men from all era are generally arrogant cads but eventually revealed to have hearts of gold. The inner monologues are quite modern and funny: “Kissing Amy. Bad idea. What the devil had he been thinking? He hadn’t been thinking at all; that was the problem. At least, he hadn’t been thinking with any part of him that worked in a logical manner.” Another bit I enjoyed: “Like? What an incredibly inadequate word like was. To say that he liked the idea of Amy dressed up as a dancing girl would be like saying Midas liked gold, or Epicurus liked food, or Miss Gwen liked poking her parasol at people.” And from the modern era, an affliction that Merck will surely have a pill for soon: “Unfortunately, I knew exactly what I was suffering from. LIPID (Last Idiot Person I Dated) syndrome: a largely undiagnosed but pervasive disease that afflicts single women.” Funny stuff.

Comedy, historical fiction, and contemporary chick lit are an interesting mix. While I wouldn’t call this overly intellectual, I would call it fun. I think I’ll try the next few in the series and see if they hold my interest.

First Sentence:

“...The city of your birth awaits your return.”

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne

The plot is split into two halves: first is the hunt for a mysterious and deadly sea creature, and then an adventure on Captain Nemo’s famous submarine, the Nautilus. The early part is exciting, even though because of the book’s fame the reader already knows the sea monster is really the Nautilus. Once the narrator is on board the sub, the excitement fades quickly. The ship travels around the world, visiting sunken ships, underwater forests, and battling giant squids; this half of the book felt more like a collection of short stories than a cohesive narrative. Some of these vignettes dragged on too long, and the catalogs of sea creatures were interminable. The conclusion was a deus ex machina that I found quite unsatisfying; disappointing for such a promising start.

One thing I found fascinating was that there was no villain in the book, no mission to accomplish, no quest to complete. Everyone has a sense of honor that governs their actions, and there are no one-dimensional characters. Nemo kidnaps the narrator and his party, but did so to save their lives. Ned wants to escape, but doesn’t hesitate to join the crew to fight off attackers and returning the weapon he used when successful. This depth makes the story more interesting, even in the slow parts.

First Sentence:

The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

Myths for the Modern Age, edited by Win Scott Eckert

Philip José Farmer believes that the meteor which landed near a small village in England in 1795 irradiated roughly eighteen people and changed their genetic makeup. These mutated genes were passed on to their descendants, many of whom became extraordinary individuals. These amazing people have been the real-world models for some of the most popular fictional characters through the years, such as Sherlock Holmes, the Scarlet Pimpernel, Allan Quatermain, and James Bond. Myths for the Modern Age is a collection of faux-scholarly essays exploring this concept.

As with many anthologies, the various authors here are hit and miss with their efforts. The Arms of Tarzan by Farmer goes into excruciating detail about the coat of arms of Lord Greystoke, better known as Tarzan; this is easily the least interesting essay in the collection. Brad Mengel’s Watching the Detectives was my favorite, where we learn that Simon Templar, Lara Croft, Ellery Queen, Barnaby Jones, Archie Goodwin, and Robert Goren are all descendants of Sherlock Holmes. He also postulates that Holmes nemesis Moriarty had well-known offspring, such as “Howling Mad” Murdock, better known as the helicopter pilot for the commando unit known as the A-Team. “Intriguingly, the leader of the A-Team, John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, is the great-nephew of Sherlock Holmes making this perhaps the first time that a member of the Holmes family and a member of the Moriarty family worked together.” Connections like this make this concept a lot of fun!

At nearly 400 pages, this can be a long read—especially for the less interesting chapters. There is an excellent set of endnotes throughout the essays that give sources and hints as to who some of the more obscure characters are (Lew Archer, anyone?) but somewhere in the 200’s the numbers get out of sync, with the text and the reference mismatched; this led to quite a bit of confusion for me until I realized what had happened. All in all, I was disappointed by this book. The idea of a shared genealogy crossing fictional boundaries I love, but feel it fell short of its potential here. If you are a die-hard lover of conspiracy and literary humor then pick this up, but otherwise just go spend some time on Thom Holbrook’s crossover site.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

The Wold Newton Family is a group of heroic and villainous literary figures that science fiction author Philip José Farmer postulated belonged to the same genetic family.

Mage-Guard of Hamor, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

This book picks up immediately after Natural Ordermage, with our hero returning home to Recluce. Rahl is one of the whinier heroes Modesitt has given us, but we see him mature into a leader under the hard gaze of his mentor. I thought the twists were telegraphed and way too obvious, but the magic-and-military campaign kept me interested. The plot is as formulaic as all the other adventures in this universe, but I still enjoyed it. This is an entertaining read, perfect for a rainy afternoon or a crowded airplane.

First Sentence:

Rahl stood on the port wing of the fast frigate’s bridge, looking out at the seemingly endless gray-blue waters of the Eastern Ocean.

Implementing Lean Software Development, by Mary and Tom Poppendieck

This book examines the lean manufacturing approach pioneered by Toyota and how it can apply to software development. Lean boils down to seven principles: eliminate waste, build quality in, create knowledge, defer commitment, deliver fast, respect people, and optimize the whole. Many of these are familiar to agile proponents, but not all. Of particular interest to me was the last principle, optimize the whole. Developers have a strong tendency to suboptimize a problem, to “perfect” a small block of code without considering the bigger picture. Optimizing the whole means that instead of looking at an individual step you look at the entire value stream. When combined with a stop-the-line mentality that forces teams to solve problems rather than work around them, there is a lot of potential for not only higher throughput but for higher quality.

Another interesting idea presented here was set-based design: multiple teams solving the same problems at the same time in different ways. The thought here is you can have several groups all tackle the same issue, each taking a different approach or accepting a different amount of risk. They all work simultaneously, and at the end the best one of the solutions can be taken forward. I’ve never worked at a company that was willing to put this many resources towards a single problem but it is an intriguing concept.

Overall, a good book that any agile enthusiast should read. The writing isn’t as compelling as Tabeka or as interesting as Angus, but still well worth your time. Another winner from the Addison-Wesley Signature Series of books.

First Sentence:

Paris, France, July 1785.

Sister Time, by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane

I picked this book up out of the bargain bin not knowing anything about it. Turns out it is the tenth book of a series, so I was thrown into the middle of an epic without any back story. Ringo and Cochrane are good enough writers where I stayed enthralled with the plot even when I didn’t understand the many references to previous events. The several alien species all have broad traits that both underscore the alienness and give the reader a good visual: Darhels are elf-like businessmen, Indowy are small green furry engineers, Tchpth are philosopher crabs, and Posleen are reptile warriors. I got the idea that previous books in the series give a much more thorough look at the aliens, but these high-level descriptions allowed the story to progress without chapters of exposition.

The plot here reads like a James Bond story where MI6 has been replaced by an Irish clan, Q is an alien, and Bond looks like Pamela Anderson. It rolls along quickly while still providing enough exposition that a new reader (like me) doesn’t get lost with the rich history. The action sequences were exciting, although the conclusion was a bit abrupt in my opinion. The hints at the larger scope the series covers, though, are intriguing enough that I suspect this won’t be my last trip to Ringo’s universe.

First Sentence:

The dark figure dropping over the edge of the building could have given lessons in camouflage to a Himmit.

Tell Me Where It Hurts, by Dr. Nick Trout

As a kid I found James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small on my mother’s bookshelf, and after reading it quickly devoured the rest of the set. When my brother-in-law offered to lend me Tell Me Where It Hurts by a different English vet (albeit one living in Boston), I eagerly accepted. While this more recent book didn’t quite live up to my memory of Herriot’s work, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The writing was extremely witty; Trout’s use of language had me in stitches more than once. For instance, in his early days as a vet he was nervous talking to clients and he “would begin to itch. If you took a binge-drinking frat boy, stripped him naked, and hazed him with a gallon bucket full of ravenous fire ants poured over his entire body including his nether regions, I believe you would have a reasonable approximation of the degree of itchiness that ensued.” Trout also has a knack for anthropomorphizing the animals we meet in his clinic. A wired, nervous dog in the waiting room is described as “scanning the crowd for potential assassins as part of a Secret Service detail.” The book is riddled with funny and effective phrases like these.

The stories Trout tells do a great job of relating what it must be like to be a veterinarian. He captures both the joy of successfully treating a sick animal and the heartache and grief of a passing family pet equally well. I also got a good idea of what this profession means to the author and what being a vet is all about: “striving for a connection and collaboration between two completely different species ... trying to help a frightened, sick animal with their unequivocal acceptance of your intentions ... unlike human medicine, this exchange transpires in respectful silence, in a world of tacit, clueless tolerance.” I took delight in reading this work, and if you have a well-loved pet and spend any time at the local animal clinic, you probably will too.

First Sentence:

This might seem strange, coming from an Englishman, but sometimes emergency surgery in the middle of the night can play out like a synopsis of a perfect season for the Boston Red Sox.

Trace, by Patricia Cornwell

Cornwell is just going through the motions these days. Blow Fly was bad, but Trace was truly awful. Besides a ridiculous plot and characters that are continually unhappy and unpleasant, the writing is repetitive to the point of boredom. In one chapter, an alcoholic neighbor is described as such: “She has left the station and is halfway to drunk.” A mere two paragraphs later, “She stretches her words the way people do when they’ve left the station and are happily on their way to drunk.” On the next page, the same character is “pronouncing her French extremely well for one almost at her destination of drunk.” That is a lot of metaphor for such a short passage. Bah.

Trace is an ironic name for this book, because there isn’t a trace of enjoyment to be found here. Personalities I’d liked in previous novels were angry shells of themselves, and it had a lackluster plot with so many coincidences and holes it should have been a Murder She Wrote episode. I find it hard to believe that the same author that wrote Postmortem wrote this drivel.

First Sentence:

Yellow bulldozers hack earth and stone in an old city block that has seen more death than most modern wars, and Kay Scarpetta slows her rental SUV almost to a stop.

The Search, by John Battelle

This book is an easy appraisal of the state of Internet search. As search is dominated by Google these days, Google stories dominate the book as well. In general I found this a fairly well-balanced book, discussing both the positive and negative aspects of the topic. When discussing Google, though, Battelle’s obvious admiration for the company (“Google has never known anything but success. The only thing Google has failed to do, so far, is fail.”) is pretty obvious. He tries to temper it here and there (he includes one of my favorite Jeff Bezos quotes, “Well, of course you shouldn’t be evil. But then again, you shouldn’t have to brag about it either.”) but the overall text fairly drips with praise. It was so positive that I was surprised that Battelle used Apple rather than Google when he wrote, “While others argued that the wheel or the internal combustion engine was civilization’s greatest tool, I’d stick to my guns and argue for the Mac.” I am as impressed as anyone with what Google has accomplished, but Google’s potential scares me more than Microsoft ever did! But I digress; back to the book.

Battelle clearly understands not only how search works, but that it will become the most important factor in our interaction with the Internet in the future. He uses excellent examples of how subtly search has creeped into our everyday life, and how in turn this has affected the business world. When discussing why sites that force registration to read or search (such as the Economist and the Wall Street Journal), he makes the astute observation that in preventing people from seeing content, they are reducing their status as an respected authority. “Sites that wall themselves off are becoming irrelevant, not because the writing or analysis is necessarily flawed, but because their business model is.” Battelle gives well thought out examples on what we can expect to see in the next few years; for instance the combination of localized search and mobile devices will level many playing fields: being able to compare the prices of wine on a store-by-store, local level will make it easy to draw conclusions such as, “Whole Foods is ripping you off.” Also briefly touching on the emerging fields of domain-specific research (citing the superb Austin-based Indeed as an authority on job hunting) this book gives an encompassing, informative, and interesting survey of the search business.

First Sentence:

By the fall of 2001, the Internet industry was in full retreat.