Wow. I (finally) just finished reading Krakatoa — The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester. Crazy stuff. I liked it. It’s a smidge on the textbook-side, but he’s an entertaining enough writer — and the topic is so incredible — that you don’t ever get bored during its 380-ish pages. The… Read more »
Posts Tagged: books
Game Theory at Work
This is one case where you can’t really trust the reviews at Amazon. Take it from me: Game Theory at Work: How to Use Game Theory to Outthink and Outmaneuver Your Competition is an excellent book. It’s been on my reading list for over a year now, and just last night I finally finished. Miller… Read more »
Live from New York
Today I finally finished Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, which has been sitting on my reading list for well over a year now. It’s not so much a “book” as it is a huge collection of quotes and stories from cast members, producers, writers, directors, etc. It could have… Read more »
Link Droppings
Just a bunch of random thoughts I’ve been meaning to post … It took me for-freaking-ever to recognize that it’s Matt Dillon doing the voiceover on the Pontiac Torrent commercials. It took me five minutes to find and download Struggle, by Ringside — the music from the commercial. I snagged a couple of their other… Read more »
Reading List
Just finished reading Peace Kills: America’s Fun New Imperialism, by P.J. O’Rourke. It was pretty good, a quick read. If you like P.J., it’s more of the same. I also (finally) knocked off David Sedaris’ Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, which was absolutely hysterical. Seriously funny stuff. Next up: How to Talk to… Read more »
A Short History of Nearly Everything
This weekend I finally finished Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”. It was a terrific read, truly wonderful. Bryson managed to make even the most esoteric, incredibly — for lack of a better word — boring details about life on this planet inconceivably fascinating. I mean really, it takes a brilliant author to… Read more »
Six Feet Under
Tonight was the premiere of the final season of one of my favorite shows — Six Feet Under, on HBO. It’s really brilliant, this show. I can’t get over how every episode is just so freaking fantastic. I’m going to be a bit sad when it’s gone. Thinking is basically what I do for a… Read more »
Bringing Down the House
What a great book! I just finished reading “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions“, and I feel like I need to take a nap. It’s a thrilling, true account of a group of college kids that managed — in two years! — to fleece the… Read more »
Some Good Books
This list of my favorite books has been floating around my site for about a decade now … Originally I had it prefaced with: “This is my list of the all-time best books ever written. If you get a chance, read at least one of these before you die. The WWW is great fun, TV… Read more »
Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser
I am apparently in a reading frenzy these days. I just knocked off Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser. The book is not all about marijuana, although it would certainly be compelling enough if it was only concerned with that one topic. Instead it’s three essays… Read more »