Category: Misc

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker

Amazing good book, well argued and lots of information. The only downside is he talks to some diagrams [downloadable] at times. Highly Recommend. 9/10

A History of Britain, Volume : Fate of Empire 1776 – 2000 by Simon Schama

I didn’t enjoy this all that much. The author tried to use various lives to illustrate themes but both the themes and biographies suffered. Huge areas also left out. 6/10

Where Did You Get This Number? : A Pollster’s Guide to Making Sense of the World by Anthony Salvanto

An overview of (mostly) political polling and it’s history. Lots of examples for the 2016 US election campaign. Light but interesting. 7/10

Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods by Danna Staaf

Pretty much what the titles says. I got a little lost with all the similarly names species but the general story was interesting enough and not too long. 6/10

Apollo in the Age of Aquarius by Neil M. Maher

The story of the back and forth between NASA and the 60s counterculture from the civil rights struggle and the antiwar movement to environmentalism and feminism. Does fairly well. 7/10

An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies by Tyler Cowen

A huge amount of practical advice and how and where to find the best food both locally and abroad. Plus good explanations as to why. 8/10

The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack

Writer tours the not-states of the USA. A bit too fluffy most of the time & too much hanging with US expats. Some interesting bits. 6/10

Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes

Chronology of the campaign based on background interviews with staffers. A ready needs a good knowledge of the race since this is assumed. Interesting enough. 7/10

Rush Hour by Iain Gatel

A history of commuting (from the early railway era), how it has driven changes in housing, work and society. Plus lots of other random stuff. Very pleasant. 8/10

Tamed: Ten Species that Changed our World by Alice Roberts

Plenty of content (14 hours) and not too dumbed down. About 8 of the 10 species are the ones you’d expect. 8/10

It Won’t Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching by Tom Rademacher

A breezy little book about the realities of teaching (at least in the US). Interesting to outsiders & hopefully useful to those in the profession. 7/10

The Hobbit by J. R. R Tolkien, Read by Rob Inglis

A good audio-edition of the book. Unabridged & really the default one for most people. I alternated chapters of this with the excellent Prancing Pony Podcast commentaries on those chapters. 9/10

The Life of Greece: The Story of Civilization, Volume 2 (The Story of Civilization series) by Will Durant

32 hours on the history of Ancient Greece. Seemed to cover just above everything. Written in the 1930s so probably a little out-of-date in places. 7/10

The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match That Made Chess Great Again by Brin-Jonathan Butler

Not a lot about the match. The author rolls out a bunch of random chess stories and profiles instead. 4/10

The Next American City: The Big Promise of Our Midsize Metros by Mick Cornett

The four-term Mayor of Oklahoma City goes over projects OC and other mid-sized cities implemented to improve their cities & fight back against the large metros. 8/10

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

Apparently a lot of expanded essays but still a lot of interesting stuff in there. The good ones are great and the bad ones are okay. 7/10

Chasing the Demon: A Secret History of the Quest for the Sound Barrier, and the Band of American Aces Who Conquered It by Dan Hampton

Covers some early aircraft and aerodynamics history, then the lives of pilots who would break the sound barrier & then the actual event (or events!). 7/10

The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read by Stephen Fry

A bit weaker than the other volumes. The author tries mixing the style in places but several stories feel like repeats. Lacking excitement 7/10

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

A good entry for the 2nd tier of Dune Books (behind 1, even with 2 & 4). Good mix of story, philosophy and politics. Plot a little plodding though.  8/10

Modern Romance: An Investigation by Aziz Ansari

Lots of hardish data and good advice for people looking to date online. Around 3-4 years old so fairly uptodate. Funny in a lot of places & some audiobook extra bits. 8/10

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson

Part 2 of a trilogy. I liked this a little more than the first edition but it is still hard to follow in the audiobook format without maps etc. Individual stories lift it up. 7/10

The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light
by Paul Bogard

A book about how darkness is being lost for most people. How we are missing out on the stars, a good sleep and much else. I really liked this, writing good and topics varied. 8/10

President Carter: The White House Years by Stuart E. Eizenstat

Eizenstat was Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Carter & took extensive notes everywhere. The book covers just above everything, all the highs and lows. Long but worth it. 7/10

The Vanity Fair Diaries 1983-1992 by Tina Brown

Well written although I forgot who was who at times. The author came over very real and it is interesting to feel what has/hasn’t changed since the 1980s. 7/10

His Last Bow and The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read by Stephen Fry

The Valley of Fear is solid. The short stories are not among my favorites but everything is well produced 7/10

First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen

I read this prompted by the movie. Unlike the movie covers his family, early and post-moon life and has a lot more detail everywhere. Not overly long however 8/10

Don’t Make Me Pull Over! : An Informal History of the Family Road Trip by Richard Ratay

Nice combination of the author’s childhood experiences in the early-70s along with a history of the hotel, highway and related topics. 8/10

Giants’ Star by James P. Hogan

3rd book in the trilogy. Worth reading if you read and liked the first two. 6/10

U.S.S. Seawolf: Submarine Raider of the Pacific by Joseph Eckberg

First person account of a crew-member of a US Sub before & during the first year (up to Jan 1943) of US involvement in WW2. Published during the war and solely sourced for one person, so missing some details due to wartime censorship and lack of reference to other sources. Engaging though. 8/10

Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds by Bernd Heinrich

I didn’t like these quite as much as “Summer World” and “Winter World” since 100% ravens got a bit much but still it was well written & got me interested in the birds. 7/10

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough

Covering American visitors (mostly artists, writers and doctors) to Paris mainly from 1830 to 1900. Covering how they lived and how Paris influenced them along with some history of the city. 9/10

How to Rig an Election by Nic Cheeseman & Brian Klaas

The authors take experiences in various countries (mostly recent 3rd-world examples) as to how elections are rigged. Some advice for reducing it. 8/10

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read by Stephen Fry

Once again great reading by Fry and a great story. Works very well with all Holmes and Watson action and no giant backstory. 8/10

Our Oriental Heritage: Story of Civilization Series, Book 1 by Will Durant

Covers the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, India, China and Japan. In some cases up to the 20th Century. The book cover arts, religion and philosophy as well Kings and dates. This was written in the 1930s so has some stuff that has been superseded and out of date attitudes to race and religion in places. It long (50 hours) with another 11 volumes still to go but it is pretty good if you don’t mind these problems. 7/10

Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern & David Grinspoon

Stern was one of the originators and principal investigator of the mission so lots of firsthand details about all stages of the project from first conception though various versions.

Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans by T. R. Fehrenbach

About 80% of the 40 hour book covers the period 1820-1880. Huge amounts of detail during then but skips over the rest quickly. Great stories though. 8/10

That’s Not English – Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us by Erin Moore

A series of short chapters (usually one per word) about how the English language is used differently in England from the US. Fun light read. 7/10

The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream by Tyler Cowen

How American culture (and I’d extend that to countries like NZ) has stopped innovating and gone the safe route in most areas. Main thesis is that pressure is building up and things may break hard. Interesting 8/10

A History of Britain, Volume 2 : The British Wars 1603 – 1776 by Simon Schama

Covering the Civil War, Glorious Revolution and bits of the early empire and American revolution. A nice overview. 7/10

I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: Star Wars and the Triumph of Geek Culture by A. D. Jameson

A personal account of the author’s journey though Geekdom (mainly of the Sci-Fi sort) mixed in with a bit of analysis of how the material is deeper than critics usually credit. 7/10

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

An interesting listen. Covers both history of humanity and then extrapolates ways things might go in the future. Many plausible ideas (although no doubt some huge misses). 8/10

Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City by Neal Bascomb

The architects, owners & workers behind the Manhattan Trust Building, the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building all being built New York at the end of the roaring 20s. Fascinating and well done. 9/10

The Invention Of Childhood by Hugh Cunningham

The story of British childhood from the year 1000 to the present. Lots of quotes (by actors) from primary sources such as letters (which is less distracting than sometimes). 8/10

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle – Read by Stephen Fry

Very well done reading by Fry. Story excellent of course. 8/10

My Happy Days in Hollywood: A Memoir by Garry Marshall

Memoir by writer, producer (Happy Days, etc) and director (Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries, etc). Great stories mostly about the positive side of the business. Very inspiring 8/10

Napoleon by J. Christopher Herold

A biography of Napoleon with a fair amount about the history of the rest of Europe during the period thrown in. A fairly short (11 hours) book but some but not exhausting detail. 7/10

Storm in a Teacup: The Physics of Everyday Life by Helen Czerski

A good popular science book linking everyday situations and objects with bigger concepts (eg coffee stains to blood tests). A fun listen. 7/10

All These Worlds Are Yours: The Scientific Search for Alien Life by Jon Willis

The author reviews recent developments in the search for life and suggests places it might be found and how missions to search them (he gives himself a $4 billion budget) should be prioritised. 8/10

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I’m right in the middle of the demographic for most of the references here so I really enjoyed it. Good voicing by Wil Wheaton too. Story is straightforward but all pretty fun. 8/10

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I switched to Stephen Fry for this collection. Very happy with his reading of the stories. He does both standard and “character” voices well and is not distracting. 8/10

Roughing It by Mark Twain

A bunch of anecdotes and stories from Twain’s travels in Nevada & other areas in the American West. Quality varies. Much good but some stories fall flat. Verbose writing (as was the style at the time…) 6/10

Asteroids Hunters by Carrie Nugent

Spin off of a Ted talk. Covers hunting for Asteroids (by the author and others) rather than the Asteroids themselves. Nice level of info in a short (2h 14m) book. 7/10

Things You Should Already Know About Dating, You F*cking Idiot by Ben Schwartz & Laura Moses

100 dating tips (roughly in order of use) in 44 minutes. Amusing and useful enough. 7/10

Protector – A Classic of Known Space by Larry Niven

Filling in a spot in Niven’s universe. Better than many of his Known Space stories. Great background on the Pak in Hard Core package. Narrator gave everybody strong Australian accents for some reason. 7/10

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly

Good book on 12 long term “deep trends” ( filtering, remixing, tracking, etc ) and how they have worked over the last and next few decades (especially in the context of the Internet). Pretty interesting and mostly plausible. 7/10

Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us by Sam Kean

Works it’s way though the gases in & evolution of earth’s atmosphere, their discovery and several interesting asides. Really enjoyed this, would have enjoyed 50% more of it. 9/10