XP123 Books

Review - Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade, by James Reston. Faber and Faber, 2002.

Saladin became the sultan of a mostly-united Muslim world (where Shia and Sunni were conflicting even then). The European side was dominated by Philip of France and Richard the Lion-Hearted of England. Many others are involved, including brief appearances by Eleanor (Richard's mother), John (his brother), and even Robin Hood. This was war, but politics certainly had its impact. The story is always interesting, though occasionally marred by flashbacks. Even 800 years later, we feel the echoes of this conflict.

The Product Manager's Handbook, by Linda Gorchels

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:26:00 +0000

The Product Manager's Handbook, by Linda Gorchels. McGraw-Hill, 2005.

This is a basic book on product management (an area which has a shortage of material). It talks about the role of product managers, planning, maintaining a portfolio, new products, pricing, and marketing. There are some checklists and sample plans to help although I don't see them as the main focus of the book. (For example, there's a handy checklist on trade show responsibilities.) Most of the examples are about consumer-type products, but software makes a limited appearance. An OK intro, but I'm looking for better.

Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 03:24:00 +0000

Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests, by Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce, ISBN 0-321-50362-7

Freeman and Pryce explain Test-Driven Development through an extended example. (They have a somewhat different perspective than I do, with much heavier use of mock objects. I'm not sure what drives this difference; it may be due to type of application, philosophical reasons, or just something I should learn.) I love the clarity with which they tackle the problem of driving in from all the way outside, and how they don't shy away from dealing with concurrency and persistence. It's high praise for me to say a book deserves further study; this book is one I'll definitely be reading again.

The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:46:00 +0000

The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande. Metropolitan, 2009.

This book is an expansion of Gawande's interesting New Yorker article. It's an exploration of how the relatively simple idea of a checklist can be used to ensure that complicated things get done well. What works for pilots also works well for surgery. I thought the article was enough to get the idea, but the book was an interesting read for more depth.

Collapse, by Jared Diamond

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:48:00 +0000

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 on ecological ones.

When discussing modern societies (e.g., Montana, New Guinea), Diamond is able to speak from personal experience and from interviews. He highlights how people build up a certain conception of their society, and how hard that makes change. He also discusses the effects of absentee owners, corporate influence, and more.

Diamond covers a variety of older societies too, in varying levels of detail, including Greenland, Easter Island, the Anasazi, and others. I found Greenland interesting because he was able to contrast the experience of the Norse Greenlanders and the Intuit, and Easter Island because he gives a plausible explanation for "the mystery."

The writing draws on archaeology, biology, sociology, and more. By starting and ending with modern scenarios, it drew me in well: here's where we are in Montana, here's what happened to a variety of past societies, here are current issues. If you like a broad survey, that shows implications for today, you'll like this book.

Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sun, 09 May 2010 00:28:00 +0000

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 stay the same? How far would you push the issue on either side? This is a fun bit of science fiction.

Mabinogion Tetralogy, by Evangeline Walton

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:59:00 +0000

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, but I've linked to a recent version with everything in one volume.

The Prince of Annwn tells of a prince who helps a mysterious Gray Man. A few years later, the druids blame him for troubles in the land, and he vows to take a wife. (Throughout these stories, you see interplay between old tribes and new tribes, men and women.)

The Children of Llyr starts with a time when people are starting to figure out how men are involved in procreation. Inheritance had passed down to one's sister's children, since you knew they were related. This is a story of brothers and the troubles between them that resulted in death and change.

The Song of Rhiannon ties the first two stories together, following the story of one of Llyr's children.

Finally, The Island of the Mighty tells of a sorceress who tried to control someone's destiny but found she could not.

If you enjoy fantasy, or would like to sample it without picking up something as intense as Tolkien, these are an excellent read.

Mythology, by Edith Hamilton

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:48:00 +0000

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 Trojan War", "The Heroes of the Trojan War", "The Great Families of Mythology" (Atreus, Thebes, and Athens), and "The Less Important Myths". She closes with about 15 pages of Norse myths (just a taste). The stories are typically brief, easy reads in a fairly modern style. I was struck by how she describes the difference between different authors (though I'm not to the point of distinguishing them myself).

The Dark Tower and Other Stories

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:51:00 +0000

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 same publisher and editor). "The Dark Tower" is a partial story (about 70 pages) about a parallel universe; the characters overlap a little with the "Space Trilogy."

"The Man Born Blind" is a story of a man who is given sight and wants to understand light. "The Shoddy Lands" is a short study in perspective. "Ministering Angels" is about a trip to Mars (and reminds me of some of Isaac Asimov's humor pieces). "Forms of Things Unknown" is about a dangerous trip to the moon. "After 10 Years" is a partial story (about 20 pages), a followup to a Greek myth.
In general, the science fiction is "just" a carrier to get us to places unknown rather than being integral to the story. The stories themselves are good (though sometimes rough), laced with myth in his trademark way.

Structured Systems Analysis: Tools and Techniques

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:31:00 +0000

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 (though heavier on the tools than the techniques). The description of a data dictionary is one of the better ones I've seen. There's a nice distinction between system and organizational objectives. This is the earliest reference I've seen to the IRACIS model: that work is done because it will Increase Revenue, Avoid Costs, and/or Improve Service. Their explanation of decision tables is excellent. For those who trace the history of agile ideas, Gane and Sarson view systems development as following Boehm's spiral model: "In each case and at each level we build a skeleton, first logical and then physical, see how well the skeleton works, and then go back to put the flesh on the bones." (This is from 1979, and 30 years later we're still working on it.)

The Principles of Product Development Flow (Reinertsen)

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:46:00 +0000

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, the military) to explore the consequences for product development. The book is organized as 175 principles, organized into chapters by area. Here are a couple examples: "B2: The Batch Size Queueing Principle: Reducing batch size reduces cycle time"; "F8: The Cadence Batch Size Enabling Principle: Use a regular cadence to enable small batch sizes". Each principle gets a page or two of explanations; the diagrams are plentiful and helpful. (For an introduction to the topic, I still recommend Reinertsen's book Managing the Design Factory.)

Legends of Dune (series)

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:23:00 +0000

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 were working out all the technologies and schools that showed up there. Find the roots of the Harkonnens, Atreides, Corrinos, and more. Being set so much earlier does free the authors up some; any discrepancies can be put down to the confusions of time.

The first book has humans against robots and cymeks, and shows why the Butlerian Jihad got its name. The second book follows the struggles of the cymeks, early space-folding, and a human who grew up with the robots. The third book traces the ultimate battle with robots.

These books use the Dune universe, but I found the style closer to Asimov than Herbert (with lots of bouncing around following various characters and threads). It was enjoyable enough, but don't expect the equal of Dune.

The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:53:00 +0000

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 a world where part of your personality takes the form of an animal (called a daemon, but not like the ones in Unix:). We meet a girl named Lyra in Oxford in another world. She acquires an amazing compass that helps guide her on a dangerous journey through what we'd call a fantasy realm because it has witches and armored bears.

The Subtle Knife:
Lyra ends up in a different world, and meets Will from our world. They quest on, meeting with enemies and unexpected allies in different worlds. Will takes on new missions.

The Amber Spyglass:
The story continues and concludes with Lyra, Will, and many others. We're treated to an unlikely evolution that sounds almost plausible, another amazing tool, and a struggle affecting angels and demons, the living and the dead.

Overall, the series is compelling and interesting. It blends an interesting mix of scientific and religious ideas, with a notable anti-organized-religion bias that will put some people off.

Food Matters, by Mark Bittman

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:12:00 +0000

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 no junk food; nothing particularly new there. I tried a half dozen of the recipes, all were OK, but none knocked my socks off. The "Almost No-Work Whole Grain Bread" was probably the best; it made a dense loaf with no kneading required, by rising for 24 hours.

Maus: A Survivor's Tale

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:02:00 +0000

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 predecessors. It tells two stories: The inner story is the story of the author's father living as a Jew in Czechoslovakia and Germany during the Nazi era. It tells of his life in the early Nazi years and how he survived the concentration camps. The second story wraps the first, and is the story of the father's current life and the author's relationship to his father.

The story is compelling; the art is first-rate, with little touches of humor (Jews are mice, many non-Jews are pigs, Nazis are cats).

Transformation, by Robert A. Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:23:00 +0000

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 moving to enlightenment. There's a sub-theme of the idea of 3 moving to 4 representing a move to complete consciousness. It's a thin volume (105 pages), but interesting material as usual for Johnson.

Six Thinking Hats, by De Bono

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:33:00 +0000

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 ideas), and blue (process). By explicitly applying different perspectives, you can nurture an idea to fruition, and you can get a fuller picture of the consequences of it. While I don't think the whole thing is as amazing as the author thinks, it is a useful reminder to help broaden your thinking.

The Soul of a New Machine

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:48:00 +0000

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 people put themselves under a siege to complete a project in less time than it "should" take. This is not a story of "sustainable pace." This interesting book is mostly focused on the story, but it's not afraid to dive into some technical detail when that conveys what's going on.

(Reviewed Oct. 19, 2009)

Review - Presentation Zen, by Garr Reynolds

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:58:00 +0000

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 create a solid design using pictures, quotations, and empty space, employing various graphics principles he describes. The book was a quick read, and it definitely has helped me improve my presentations.

"He" and "We", by Robert A. Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Want a taste of Jungian psychology but don't want to spend $100+ and wait 3 months for The Red Book? Robert A. Johnson gives a quick taste of a Jungian approach.

He: Understanding Masculine Psychology, by Robert A. Johnson. Harper, 1989.
"He" tells the story of the search for the Holy Grail as a myth of the masculine side of psychology. Johnson decodes the myth as the story of how "modern" man faces alienation in going from childhood to adulthood. We suffer, we sense there's something transcendent, but we have no cure.

We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love, Robert A. Johnson. HarperOne, 1985.
In "We", Robert A. Johnson develops a Jungian interpretation of the myth of Tristan and Iseult to look at the idea of romantic love. This myth is a criss-crossing story of forced love, betrayal, and recovery, exploring "being in love" vs. "loving."

Dune

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Dune, by Frank Herbert
When I think through my favorite science fiction, I always come back to Dune. It's a sweeping and powerful mix of intrigue with ecology. Herbert creates a unique but plausible world, and explores the forces that move through it. This book is the starting point of a series, but can be read on its own. If you haven't read Dune, you're in for a great read; if you have, maybe it's time for another go.

Review - Frankenstin (Koontz)

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Frankenstein (Dean Koontz et al.):
Prodigal Son (vol. 1)
City of Night (vol. 2)
Dead and Alive (vol. 3)

(I can't resist posting this review on Halloween.)

A pair of detectives are working to solve murders and other other mysteries. Frankenstein or his monster are involved. The dialog is snappy, the characters are fun, and it's a page-turner (as you'd expect from Dean Koontz). The third (and last) book was weak, with a lot of chasing around to close loose ends, but up till there it was a very enjoyable series. (The third book changed it from a keeper to an airport read for me. )

Review - Structured Design

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Structured Design. Edward Yourdon and Larry L. Constantine. Prentice-Hall, 1979.

This was one of the early structured "standard works" that I've only just gotten to for the first time. I'd learned things like coupling and cohesion, afferent and efferent flows, and the concept of factoring, but it's much stronger coming directly from this source. Not everything here is compatible with the way I think about design, but this is one of those books that deserve repeated study.

Review - The Well at the World's End

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:47:00 +0000

The Well at the World's En d (volume 1 and volume 2), by William Morris, Borgo Press, 2000. [Originally published 1896!]
This is considered the first fantasy novel set in its own world. William Morris was an artisan (leader of the Arts and Crafts movement), decorator, poet, producer of the first recliner chair, and all-around multi-talented guy. The story is of the heroic quest for the Well that gives long life. With its knights, archaic language, and reliance on a little more luck than seems common, you can see its influence on C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and the rest of the fantasy genre. (Reviewed Oct., '09) [The version I had was in one volume; I think these two are the equivalent together.]

Review - Book of Rhymes

noreply@blogger.com (XP123 Books) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:34:00 +0000

Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip-Hop, by Adam Bradley.Basic Books, 2009.

Rap is like Ireland to me - there's an overlap in language and culture, I can sense that there are important differences I'm not tuned to, and I haven't properly been there. Bradley looks at rap as poetry. Part 1 looks at rhythm, rhyme, and wordplay; Part 2, style, storytelling, and signifying. He makes his case that there is a lot going on poetically in the best rap, even if it doesn't have the range that the best poetry aspires to. (Reviewed Oct., '09)