Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom) by Adam Fisher
Weaves around 500 interviews into stories of People and Companies. Well put together and a great read 4/5
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown
A review of scientifically prove learning techniques concentrating on what really works vs what feels good. Useful 3/5
The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer
Two very different groups of people are unfrozen into a post-apocalyptic Earth. A group of Astronauts and a group of Convicted Murderers. Good Sawyer story although a bit on the short side 3/5
How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World by Deb Chachra
A tour of various pieces of Infrastructure that supports our everyday lives. Mostly an introduction but with some strong opinions on funding and sustainability. 3/5
Apollo 1: The Tragedy that put us on the Moon by Ryan S. Walters
Bios of the Astronauts and the US space programme leading up to the accident and various problems that made it inevitable. Good but not extremely detailed. 4/5
The Dancer at the Gai-Moulin by Georges Simenon
The plan by two wayward youths to rob a Belgian nightclub goes awry but how does it connect to a murdered man? Interesting story that avoids Maigret’s point of view. 3/5
My Scoring System
- 5/5 = Brilliant, top 5 book of the year
- 4/5 = Above average, strongly recommend
- 3/5 = Average. in the middle 70% of books I read
- 2/5 = Disappointing
- 1/5 = Did not like at all
