/tags/4star/ Recent content in 4star on Perlkönig Hugo -- gohugo.io Copyright © 2006-{year} Aaron Dalton. All Rights Reserved. Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/anathem-by-neal-stephenson/ Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/anathem-by-neal-stephenson/ Rating: 4/5 Neal Stephenson, Anathem (New York, NY: William Morrow, 2008). This is a book that’s all about the journey. It’s quite long (almost a thousand pages), and I’d certainly classify it as a “slow burn.” The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world (but not your run-of-the-mill post-apocalypse) in which theorists are forbidden from contact with actual technology and isolated from the rest of the world in what they call “maths. /posts/spin-by-robert-charles-wilson/ Sun, 31 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/spin-by-robert-charles-wilson/ Rating: 4/5 Robert Charles Wilson, Spin (New York: Tor Books, 2005). I managed to squeeze in at least one new book this summer. Wilson’s Spin is a sci-fi novel that follows two families (three main protagonists) as the world tries to figure out what happened to the suddenly invisible stars. The narrative alternates between “now” and the recounting of the events that led to it. This approach can be problematic because some tension is removed (you know who survives) and the author runs the risk of telegraphing important points too early or clearly. /posts/this-book-is-full-of-spiders-by-david-wong/ Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/this-book-is-full-of-spiders-by-david-wong/ Rating: 4/5 David Wong, This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2012). This book is a sequel to the excellent John Dies at the End by the same author. Go read that review first . Essentially the same comments apply. These books are a cross between Lovecraftian “weird fiction,” modern horror, and humour. I found myself laughing out loud very, very often. /posts/networks-crowds-and-markets-by-easley-kleinberg/ Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/networks-crowds-and-markets-by-easley-kleinberg/ Rating: 4/5 David Easley and Jon Kleinberg, Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning about a Highly Connected World (Cambridge University Press, 2010). I really, really enjoyed this book. I learned so much. As far as textbooks go—I’ve read my share—this one is very well organized. I thought the progression of topics was perfect. The book is divided into seven overall parts: Graph Theory and Social Networks Here they introduce the basics of graph theory and how it applies to social networks. /posts/unaccountable-by-marty-makary/ Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/unaccountable-by-marty-makary/ Rating: 4/5 Marty Makary, MD, Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won’t Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2012). A vital issue, harrowing stories, and reasonable solutions. The problem is the corporatization of health care and the lack of incentives to improve health care. The stories he shares of medical mistakes and issues are scary, to say the least. The answer he proposes is complete transparency of outcome data. /posts/john-dies-at-the-end-by-david-wong/ Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/john-dies-at-the-end-by-david-wong/ Rating: 4/5 David Wong, John Dies at the End (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2010). David Wong is the pen name of Jason Pargin, senior editor at Cracked.com . If you’ve never visited the site, and you’re OK with a little coarse language, check it out. You will laugh out loud. This book is a fascinating cross between the “weird fiction” of H. P. Lovecraft and Cracked.com humour. Parts were so creepy but interspersed with spurt-beverage-out-your-nose moments of laughter. /posts/jerusalem-by-simon-sebag-montefiore/ Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/jerusalem-by-simon-sebag-montefiore/ Rating: 4/5 Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011). This is one serious piece of work! This 650-page tome presents an excellent high-level summary of the history behind the conflicts we are seeing today in the Middle East. It does what a good history book should do: that is, go beyond just presenting a sequence of events and instead present a cohesive and meaningful narrative. The subtitle is “The Biography” because the book examines the people and families integral to the history of Jerusalem. /posts/developmental-editing-by-scott-norton/ Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/developmental-editing-by-scott-norton/ Rating: 4/5 Scott Norton, Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers (University of Chicago Press, 2009). I’ve never read a book on developmental editing before, so I can’t speak to how it compares to others. I always find it interesting to watch other editors work, though. It’s one of the reasons I love working in house. I have to admit, some of the edited excerpts gave me pause. There were things I would never think to change. /posts/cookwise-by-shirley-o-corriher/ Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/cookwise-by-shirley-o-corriher/ Rating: 4/5 Shirley O. Corriher, CookWise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed (New York: William Marrow, 2011). I thought BakeWise was a much better book. Not only does this book (which was written before BakeWise, I’ll grant) spend half the book talking about baking, I think the book could have been better organized as well. It’s still a good book and has some great-looking recipes, but I found BakeWise to be more intuitively and usefully organized, with more specific information. /posts/pie-in-the-sky-by-susan-purdy/ Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/pie-in-the-sky-by-susan-purdy/ Rating: 4/5 Susan G. Purdy, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes; 100 Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Breads, and Pastries Home-Tested for Baking at Sea Level, 3000, 5000, 70000, and 10000 feet (and Anywhere in Between) (New York: William Morrow, 2005). If you bake, and you live above 3000 feet, then this book is for you. It’s an excellent resource for concrete, trustworthy advice about high-altitude baking. I love that every recipe has been tested. /posts/tripwire-by-lee-child/ Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/tripwire-by-lee-child/ Rating: 4/5 Lee Child, Tripwire (New York: Berkeley Books, 2005). What an improvement! Of the first three books, this is the best. The characters are better rounded, the plot line was much more interesting, and the writing was greatly improved. Finally characters learned to do things other than shrugging! (Though there is still a lot of shrugging going on.) There weren’t as many pithy quips as in the first book. You start to see more of Reacher’s personality. /posts/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep-by-philip-k-dick/ Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep-by-philip-k-dick/ Rating: 4/5 Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (New York: Ballantine Books, 1996). There was a lull in the flow of books from the library, so I picked something off my shelf to re-read. I hadn’t read this story for many years. I had forgotten how great it was! Philip K. Dick was as much a philosopher as a sci-fi writer. This book explores themes of posthumanism, empathy, and theology—all in the context of a detective-genre story. /posts/zima-blue-by-alastair-reynolds/ Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/zima-blue-by-alastair-reynolds/ Rating: 4/5 Alastair Reynolds, Zima Blue (London: Gollancz, 2009). I had forgotten how much I enjoy Alastair Reynolds’s writing. He is an expert in the “space opera” genre. Short stories give authors a great opportunity to distill a story down to its very essence. Reynolds does not waste words. I really enjoyed this collection. My favourite stories would have to be the Merlin sequence (Hideaway, Minla’s Flowers, and Merlin’s Gun). He covered a lot of ground in those three stories. /posts/killing-floor-by-lee-child/ Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/killing-floor-by-lee-child/ Rating: 4/5 Lee Child, Killing Floor (New York: Jove Books, 1997). Apparently I’m a little late coming to the Jack Reacher party. Both my father and one of my sisters has been talking up these book for a long time, and I’ve just never made the time to read them. Well I finally did, and wow, I’ve been missing out! I do enjoy detective fiction. I even took a summer class in university on that very subject. /posts/ready-player-one-by-ernest-cline/ Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/ready-player-one-by-ernest-cline/ Rating: 4/5 Ernest Cline, Ready Player One (New York: Crown Publishers, 2011). Well the book was a fun read, but saccharine. Like the best Disney and Pixar films, Ready Player One is targetted to younger readers but cannot be fully appreciated except by older ones. Unfortunately, unlike movies like Wall-E (my favourite), Finding Nemo, and Up, Ready Player One lacks the grown-up “hook” that forms the foundation that supports the movies. /posts/the-man-who-invented-the-twentieth-century-by-robert-lomas/ Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-man-who-invented-the-twentieth-century-by-robert-lomas/ Rating: 4/5 Robert Lomas, The Man Who Invented the Twentieth Century: Nikola Tesla, Forgotten Genius of Electricity (London: Headline, 1999). This is an excellent non-academic biography (no source notes) of Nikola Tesla. I knew of Tesla, but it was nice to read his story from beginning to end. Lomas is obviously sympathetic towards Tesla, but I don’t care what you say, there is no way to spin Tesla’s story in such a way as to redeem Edison, Westinghouse, and JP Morgan. /posts/thesis-and-the-book-by-harman-montagnes-mcmenemy-and-bucci/ Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/thesis-and-the-book-by-harman-montagnes-mcmenemy-and-bucci/ Rating: 4/5 Eleanor Harman, Ian, Montagnes, Siobhan McMenemy, and Chris Bucci (eds.), The Thesis and the Book: A Guide for First-Time Academic Authors, 2nd edition (University of Toronto Press, 2003). Writing a PhD dissertation? Finished writing? Hope to publish it (or part of it) in book form? Then you must read this book. A thesis is not a book. They are unfortunately different beasts. The advice in this book will help you start the arduous journey of transforming those years of blood, sweat, and tears into something truly publishable. /posts/panic-virus-by-seth-mnookin/ Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/panic-virus-by-seth-mnookin/ Rating: 4/5 Seth Mnookin, The Panic Virus (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011). This book is a history of both vaccination itself and its opponents. The take-away message is that the media is not the place to go for truly balanced and accurate information about science and health. They are far more interested in ratings and catchy headlines than truth. Epidemiology is not something you can just pick up from the University of Google. /posts/recipe-writers-handbook-by-ostmann-and-baker/ Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/recipe-writers-handbook-by-ostmann-and-baker/ Rating: 4/5 Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane L. Baker, The Recipe Writer’s Handbook: Revised and Expanded (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001). Well this is a book for editors. What it is is a style guide specifically for cookbooks. Should you use “green onions” or “scallions”? “Red pepper” or “red bell pepper”? What are the best practices for recipe testing? How should you manage metric vs. imperial measurements? What about copyright and plagiarism? /posts/a-scanner-darkly-by-philip-k-dick/ Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/a-scanner-darkly-by-philip-k-dick/ Rating: 4/5 Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly (New York: Doubleday, 2011 [1977]). I studied Philip K. Dick’s (PDK) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (the inspiration for the movie Blade Runner) in a college English class and just loved it. I went out and read a bunch of PKD’s short stories. I had heard the title A Scanner Darkly many times but didn’t know anything about it. I came across it in the bookstore the other day—in this new edition—and couldn’t resist. /posts/use-of-weapons-by-iain-m-banks/ Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/use-of-weapons-by-iain-m-banks/ Rating: 4/5 Iain M. Banks, Use of Weapons (London: Orbit, 1992). Well this was a huge step up from Player of Games . The characters in this book are very well defined and engaging, the action is visceral, and the whole story just keeps you reading. The structure is challenging and requires careful attention while reading and takes some reflection after reading. Many people just go right back and re-read it once things are more clear. /posts/the-death-gate-cycle-by-margaret-weis-tracy-hickman/ Fri, 09 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-death-gate-cycle-by-margaret-weis-tracy-hickman/ Rating: 4/5 The Death Gate Cycle is a series of seven books. I remember starting it years ago and never finishing. I picked it up again in the new year and yesterday finished the last book. The story is fundamentally about fear—about different manifestations of and reactions to it. It was an enjoyable read with some exciting moments. I think the series falls clearly, though, in the realm of young adult/juvenile fiction. /posts/the-words-we-live-by-by-linda-monk/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-words-we-live-by-by-linda-monk/ Rating: 4/5 Linda R. Monk, The Words We Live By (New York: Hyperion, 2003). This book is the entire text of the US Constitution and its 27 amendments, annotated line by line with explanations, historical motivations, and ramifications thereof. If you’re a US citizen, or just interested in politics, then understanding the Constitution is essential. This book gives you not just the text but also the tools to understand this incredible document. /posts/board-game-condottiere/ Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/board-game-condottiere/ Rating: 4/5 “Condottiere” by Fantasy Flight Games Condottiere is a card game of bluffing and second guessing. It has been around since 1995, but I am just now getting around to playing it! 2–6 players (the game works best with 3+) fight to control city states in Renaissance Italy. You do this by playing cards to your battle line. The strongest line wins, but beware the bishop who can hamstring an army in a stroke, the vagaries of winter, or a well timed surrender. /posts/eyetracking-web-usability-by-nielsen-pernice/ Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/eyetracking-web-usability-by-nielsen-pernice/ Rating: 4/5 Jakob Nielsen & Kara Pernice, Eyetracking Web Usability (Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2010). If you’re a web designer, then you really owe it to yourself to at least check this book out from the local library and read it once. The list price of $70+ dollars is a little more than I would want to spend, but if you can find a good deal, I think it’s worth it. /posts/merchants-of-culture-by-john-b-thompson/ Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/merchants-of-culture-by-john-b-thompson/ Rating: 4/5 John B. Thompson, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2010) This book discusses the history, current state, and possible future of trade publishing in the US and UK. This book does not discuss at length academic or STM publishing—he does that in other books—but instead focuses on mass-market fiction and non-fiction publishing. If you work in the industry, there’s not too much here that you won’t already know. /posts/metamagical-themas-by-douglas-hofstadter/ Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/metamagical-themas-by-douglas-hofstadter/ Rating: 4/5 Douglas R. Hofstadter, Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern (New York: Basic Books, 1986). This book (revised again in 1996) is a collection of the columns Douglas Hofstadter wrote for Scientific American in 1981–83. The columns are grouped by topic and each is followed by a lengthy postscript that expands on the original column. He explores topics from self-referentiality to Rubic’s Cubes, from Lisp atoms to the nature of cognition. /posts/dont-make-me-think-by-steve-krug/ Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/dont-make-me-think-by-steve-krug/ Rating: 4/5 Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd ed. (Berkeley, CA: New Riders). Krug’s book on web design is terrific. It’s a nice edition in full colour with lots of illustrations. Whether you’re a novice designer trying to build your first web site or a seasoned veteran, Krug’s “Laws of Usability” are easy to understand and remember. He discusses the fundamental design elements every site should have and why (with concrete, full-colour examples), spends some time talking about usability testing, and even provides a generous “Further Reading” section. /posts/bad-science-by-ben-goldacre/ Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/bad-science-by-ben-goldacre/ Rating: 4/5 Ben Goldacre, Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks (Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart, 2010). I first saw Ben Goldacre on YouTube, where I saw his stand-up comedy routine in which he talks about the placebo effect. I decided to give his book a go. I liked it, but it came across overall as far too rantish for my taste. He does accomplish his goal, but he could have addressed some important issues at greater length. /posts/infectious-greed-by-frank-partnoy/ Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/infectious-greed-by-frank-partnoy/ Rating: 4/5 Frank Partnoy, Infectious Greed: How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets (Revised ed.) (New York: Public Affairs, 2009). Make no mistake, this is one daunting read. It is 450 pages of small print and excruciating detail, and the content is enough to make you just go mad with frustration. This book is a financial history. Partnoy’s point is that the financial meltdown of 2008 did not come out of nowhere. /posts/the-lightness-of-being-by-frank-wilczek/ Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-lightness-of-being-by-frank-wilczek/ Rating: 4/5 Frank Wilczek, The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces (New York: Basic Books, 2008). The Lightness of Being is the type of content you might expect in a first-year honours physics class—maybe even second-year. It attempts to summarize where things are at in regards to quantum mechanics theory (QED and QCD) and what it tells us about the universe. The author assumes that you have a more than passing interest in science in general and that you have done at least a little recreational reading about physics specifically. /posts/music-im-listening-to-20th-century/ Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/music-im-listening-to-20th-century/ One thing about editing is that music can be very distracting, especially music with any sort of lyric. So, when I’m editing I do so generally in silence (or purely instrumental music if it’s a lighter text). I love it, then, when I get to the design and layout stage because I can listen to anything I want. Three CDs came up in my rotation today that I wanted to share—all of which from twentieth-century composers. /posts/being-wrong-by-kathryn-schulz/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/being-wrong-by-kathryn-schulz/ Rating: 4/5 Kathryn Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures In The Margin Of Error (New York: Ecco, 2010). This is a book I read sometime last year but just never got around to reviewing. As the title suggests, it’s a book about fallibility. It’s a relatively lengthy book, but the writing style is clear and engaging, and the book is indeed intended for the general public. Schulz examines why it is that we are wrong so often. /posts/anime-a-primer/ Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/anime-a-primer/ One genre I enjoy for the most part is anime. I’m not hard core or anything, and there’s plenty I don’t like, but there’s quite a bit that I do. My recent Netflix binge has only stoked this even more as I suddenly have access to so many shows I couldn’t access before. The purpose of this post is to mention my three favourite shows (so far) to set the stage for possible future posts on this topic. /posts/the-pattern-on-the-stone-by-daniel-hillis/ Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-pattern-on-the-stone-by-daniel-hillis/ Rating: 4/5 Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work (New York: Basic Books, 1998). Have you ever wondered how a computer actually works? How is it that a wafer of silicon no wider than your thumbnail can do all the things that computers do? How can a device that at it’s most essential only understands the numbers 0 and 1 and the operations AND, OR, and NOT run your phone or send an email? /posts/the-unfinished-game-by-keith-devlin/ Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-unfinished-game-by-keith-devlin/ Rating: 4/5 Keith Devlin, The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern; A Tale of How Mathematics is Really Done (New York: Basic Books, 2008). One of the intriguing things about studying history is hindsight. As a music historian, I was fascinated by the development of music notation and how it took centuries for composers to make the (now-seemingly simple) leap to a unified representation of pitch and duration—the breakthrough that eventually led to the notation we know today. /posts/musicophilia-by-oliver-sacks/ Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/musicophilia-by-oliver-sacks/ Rating: 4/5 Oliver Sacks, Musicophila: Tales of Music and the Brain (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2008). I received this book as a gift on my birthday back in 2008, but at the time I was studying for my comprehensive exams so I was somewhat over saturated (understatement!) with music readings. I’m sorry, Blais, but I’m just getting around to it now! Dr. Oliver Sacks is a neurologist and a musician. /posts/guns-germs-and-steel-by-jared-diamond/ Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/guns-germs-and-steel-by-jared-diamond/ Rating: 4/5 Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel (W. W. Norton, 1997). Well now I know. After 6 months, I’m still not recovered from grad school. After reading some “art for art’s sake” books, I thought I’d try Guns, Germs, and Steel, a book on my to-read list for some time. After 100-odd pages, I finally had to give up. I’m too exhausted. That said, it is an excellent book. Diamond writes in an exceedingly clear and accessible style. /posts/revelation-space-trilogy-by-alastair-reynolds/ Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/revelation-space-trilogy-by-alastair-reynolds/ Rating: 4/5 Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space (Ace/Berkeley Pub., 2000). ———, Redemption Ark (Gollancz, c.2002). ———, Absolution Gap (Gollancz, 2003). I recently finished the Revelation Space trilogy by Alistair Reynolds. The other books are Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap. I have to say, I really enjoyed the books. They did not, however, reach the level of “classic” for me. “Classic” to me means a book I will read multiple times, every year or so. /posts/the-prefect-by-alastair-reynolds/ Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-prefect-by-alastair-reynolds/ Rating: 4/5 Alastair Reynolds, The Prefect (Gollancz, 2008). Well I’m on a bit of an Alastair Reynolds kick at the moment. Like music, when I find something I like, I tend to try to listen to/read everything that person did to get the whole picture. Sometimes I am disappointed and stay focused on a few specific works, but so far, Alastair is not disappointing. There is a certain “groundedness” to his scientific approach (as fantastic as he can get) and I recently learned why. /posts/the-six-directions-of-space-by-alastair-reynolds/ Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-six-directions-of-space-by-alastair-reynolds/ Rating: 4/5 Alastair Reynolds, The Six Directions of Space (Subterranean Press, 2008). There is a special art to writing a short story, a particular balance you have to maintain between giving the reader too much information about topics you’ll never have room to fully explore, and making sure they have enough to get the sense of a much larger world and story. Character development can be particularly tricky. I just finished the novella “The Six Directions of Space” by Alastair Reynolds, and I have to say I was very satisfied. /posts/house-of-suns-by-alastair-reynolds/ Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/house-of-suns-by-alastair-reynolds/ Rating: 4/5 Alastair Reynolds, House of Suns (Gollancz, 2009). I just finished the book House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds over the weekend. If you enjoy sci-fi, then I heartily recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found I just could not put it down. It’s a mildly dense read (I dunno, 12 hours if you went straight through?) and it is not for children. There is coarse language and sexual subject matter.