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Crowd Funding Update 6
I Fight Dragons – Project Atma (music): They were awesome at Warped Tour – I can’t wait until they go on the Projecet Atma tour. Manufacturing delays at the vinyl plant meant that the album was delayed. Still don’t have it – should be in my hands in December. Jonathan Coulton, Greg Pak, and others…
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Mascots and Bowdlerization
As I read with my daughter I realize I had forgotten a large part of The Car in the Hat. Also watching the old Disney shorts with my daughter. Both Mickey Mouse and the Cat in the Hat were often jerks before they became mascots for their companies. Now they are goodie two shoes.
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Review: No Land’s Man
No Land’s Man by Aasif Mandvi My rating: 5 of 5 stars Disclaimer: I got this as part of Good Reads First Reads This book reminded me a lot of Tim Allen’s books ( like Don’t stand too close to a naked man). The author’s humor shines through, but humor is not its purpose. Unlike…
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Review: Coral Hare: Atomic Agent (A WW2 Spy Novel) Inspired by actual historical events
Coral Hare: Atomic Agent (A WW2 Spy Novel) Inspired by actual historical events by Clive Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars Disclaimer: I received this book for free for review purposes Let me just say this up front: I believe Clive Lee deserves high praise for his writing in Coral Hare for maintaining a…
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Review: The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations
The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations by Robert L. Cross My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is a must read for anyone in supervision or management. It will change the way you look at your employees’ interactions and the relationships they form. There may be…
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Review: Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents
Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents by James T. Reason My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had to read this book as part of my graduate work and I’m glad I did. It is an important look at how we can better work on reducing industrial accidents like oil rig explosions, airline crashes, and…
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Review: American Gods
American Gods by Neil Gaiman My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you take Terry Pratchett’s Small Gods and combine it with Scott Snyder’s American Vampire, Vol. 1, you’d have a pretty close approximation of what this book is about. Given that this book has been out since 2001, I’m not going to bother with…
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WTF ADOBE?!?
Adobe is doing some pretty despicable stuff – logging EVERY book (whether or not you are using Adobe Digital Editions) and sending it back to a server. (Here’s the guy who first discovered it). Why is this an issue? Because the books you read can be used to discriminate against you or, in some countries,…
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Review: Pwned
Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp My rating: 3 of 5 stars In my first status update I was unsure of whether the book would catch on with me. I’d bought it as part of a bundle, and it wasn’t the book that sold me on that bundle. The concept was interesting, but I wasn’t sure.…
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Review: I, Zombie
I, Zombie by Hugh Howey My rating: 5 of 5 stars That was extremely intense. I don’t think I’ll ever look at zombies the same way again. I got this book as part of some pay what you want bundle. I never would have bought it on its own – I’m not a big zombie…
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Review: Mogworld
Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is Simon Peg/Nick Frost meets World of Warcraft. I can’t remember if I got this in the same ebook bundle as Jam or a different one, but I chose Jam of this one to read first because it sounded like I’d enjoy more.…
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Review: Chrono Trigger (Boss Fight Books, #2)
Chrono Trigger by Michael P. Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is exactly what I hoped it would be. It is a deconstruction and reconstruction of the plot; it is an examination of what made the game so special. And it is a chunk of the author’s autobiography. Unlike the author, and…
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Review: Borg Like Me
Borg Like Me & Other Tales of Art, Eros, and Embedded Systems by Gareth Branwyn My rating: 4 of 5 stars (This ended up becoming almost more like a blog post than a review, but let’s call it new Books Journalism – a riff on new games journalism, which is really just Gonzo from the…
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Top Ten All-Time Most Read Authors
According to the books I’ve put on Goodreads (which I’ve only been using for a few years), these are my all-time most read authors. 1. Terry Pratchett (40) 2. Isaac Asimov (7) 2. Michael Crichton (7) 4. Neal Stephenson (5) 4. Mark Waid (5) 4. Cory Doctorow (5) 4. Douglas Adams (5) 8. Alan Moore…
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Review: Havana Nocturne
Havana Nocturne by T.J. English My rating: 4 of 5 stars I knew that one of the things Castro prided himself on was ridding Cuba of the influence of the American Mob, but I had no idea just how entwined they were with the Batista government. It was also incredible what long-range planners the mobsters…