Recent Books -- Best Practices, Lodato, Intelligent Systems, Jane, Not A Sound, Seventh Function of Language, Dead Woman Walking, How Not To Be Wrong, Strangers in Their Own Land, Viking Economics
29 December 2017
- The Journal of Best Practices by David Finch. Engaging tale of a man who set out methodically to improve his relationships. Good counsel for all of us.
- Edgar & Lucy by Victor Lodato. Intriguing and I seemed to enjoy, but somehow just never finished. I am not sure why. I guess I am not really in a fantasy mood.
- Intelligent Systems for Engineers and Scientists by Adrian Hopgood. Kind of dated at this point.
- Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore. Good reviews but ugh, choppy and poorly developed.
- Not A Sound by Heather Gudenkauf. Solid thriller – a deaf woman stumbles into a mystery, and increasingly learns that those closest to her may be involved.
- The Seventh Function of Language by Laurent Binet. Great book, man did this make me feel uneducated – the art, literature, and culture references flew by me, but well written.
- Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton. Nice thriller set in Scottish border lands with some excellent twists.
- How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg. Great discussion of practical math and statistics and how they impact our everyday life. Really good.
- Strangers In Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild. Another “how does the conservative right think” book. Useful to try to build empathy. Let’s hope that the conservative right are reading the equivalent books.
- Viking Economics by George Lakey. A bit gushing, but still a solid read about Nordic economies and values, and what we can learn from them. A core point that resonated with me – the Nordic countries have embraced “investing in our people” as a core principle, and a lot of policy decisions stem from that. This does not seem like a bad idea.
