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Tag Archives: reviews
Review – Collapse, by Jared Diamond
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond. Penguin, 2005.What makes a society fail? Diamond looks at a variety of societies, current and past, to explore this, with a framework of several factors, but especially focusing most … Continue reading
Tagged history, interesting, reviews
Review – Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow. Tor, 2003. What happens when reputation is more important than money, when death is yesterday’s problem? A group of people have decided to maintain Disney World. Is it better to change or … Continue reading
Review – Mabinogion Tetralogy, by Evangeline Walton
Mabinogion Tetralogy, by Evangline Walton. Overlook. 2003. This is an under-appreciated work of fantasy. It’s based on the Mabinogion, a set of Celtic myths found in Welsh documents. The version I bought 25 years ago was in four separate volumes, … Continue reading
Review – Mythology, by Edith Hamilton
Mythology, by Edith Hamilton. Back Bay Books, 1998. Hamilton works through the basic myths, mostly from Greek and Roman sources. Topics include “The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes”, “Stories of Love and Adventure”, “The Great Heroes before the … Continue reading
Review- The Dark Tower and Other Stories
The Dark Tower and Other Stories, by C.S. Lewis If you want to complete your collection of C.S. Lewis fiction, this volume will do that. (Note that about 1/3 of it overlaps with the stories included in Of Other Worlds by the … Continue reading
Review – Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques
Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques. Chris Gane and Trish Sarson. Prentice Hall, 1979. This is one of the classic books on systems analysis: data flow diagrams, data dictionary, and so on appear. It does a decent job explaining these … Continue reading
Review – The Principles of Product Development Flow (Reinertsen)
The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development, by Donald Reinertsen. Celeritas Publishing, 2009. Lean product development can be looked at as flow-based product development. Reinertsen draws on a variety of areas (economics, queue theory, control theory, … Continue reading
Tagged coach, economics, lean, reviews, systems thinking
Review – Legends of Dune (series)
The Legends of Dune series: The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and The Battle of Corrin (or the Box Set), by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Tor Books, 2003-2005. This series is called “Legends of Dune.” It’s set thousands of years before “Dune,” when people … Continue reading
Review – The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass
The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. (3-volume set) By Phillip Pullman. Laurel Leaf (pub.), 2003. It’s hard to review this series without giving away too much, but here goes: The Golden Compass:This story is set in … Continue reading
Review – Food Matters, by Mark Bittman
Food Matters, by Mark Bittman. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Mark Bittman mixes statistics on the consequences of eating meat with diet advice, a rant on big food, and 75 recipes. His advice: eat less meat and more plants, fewer refined carbohydrates, and … Continue reading
Review – Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, by Art Spiegelman. Pantheon, 1987/1992. Maus I – My Father Bleeds History Maus II – And Here My Troubles Began This is a graphic novel – the first one I became aware of, though there were certainly … Continue reading
Tagged biography, interesting, reviews
Review – Transformation, by Robert A. Johnson
Transformation: Understanding the Three Levels of Masculine Consciousness,Robert A. Johnson, HarperOne, 1993. Johnson uses three myths to talk about masculinity: Don Quixote represents simple consciousness, living in the inner mythical world; Hamlet represents “modern existential life”; and Faust represents man … Continue reading
Tagged interesting, myth, reviews
Review – Six Thinking Hats, by De Bono
Six Thinking Hats, by Edward De Bono. It’s easy to fall into a particular pattern of thinking. De Bono proposes a method where various thinking styles are associated with hats of different colors: white (data), red (intuition/emotion), black (pessimistic), yellow (optimistic), green (new … Continue reading
Review – The Soul of a New Machine
The Soul of a New Machine, by Tracy Kidder. Modern Library, 1997 (originally 1981). This is the story of the Data General Eagle, a computer designed to compete with DEC’s VAX. It tells of a special kind of project where … Continue reading
Review – Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds
Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds. New Riders Press, 2008. Have you ever used PowerPoint(tm) templates with bullet points? I have. Garr Reynolds shows how to use strong visuals instead. The trick is to trim down to your essential story, then … Continue reading
Tagged presentation, reviews, training