Simon Winchester May 29th, 2007 @ 6:53 am PDT
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a year since I read Krakatoa — The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester. Because I loved that book so much, at some point around Christmas I bought A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of […]
Maps May 17th, 2007 @ 7:52 am PDT
Somehow I managed to forget to write about this wonderful book. I read Miles Harvey‘s The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime over a year ago and it is brilliant. I’ve been thinking about it lately because of the awesome song “Maps” by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. You see, I have […]
Fortune’s Formula April 2nd, 2007 @ 5:47 am PDT
I am not even 100 pages into my latest William Poundstone book and I already know it’s going to be a favorite. Fortune’s Formula, The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street is the fourth Poundstone book I’ve read. The man is a genius of a writer. Labyrinths […]
Peyton Manning on Saturday Night Live March 25th, 2007 @ 8:02 pm PDT
Last night’s Saturday Night Live with Peyton Manning and Carrie Underwood was excellent. I am so happy that the show is in something of a revival right now. It’s a long-overdue, glorious return to funny. The last dozen or so SNLs have had me in stitches on more than one occasion. The digital shorts and […]
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America March 25th, 2007 @ 8:00 pm PDT
Late Friday night I finished reading Barbara Ehrenreich‘s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. This one’s been in my personal queue for several years; I sort of randomly found it on the shelf while looking for something to read on the plane to New York last week. It’s a psuedo-scientific exploration of […]
PicoPad Wallet Notes March 8th, 2007 @ 8:20 am PDT
I’m not writing it down to remember it later …
Next Man Up February 26th, 2007 @ 3:28 pm PDT
An interesting book if you love the Ravens
The Big Oyster February 19th, 2007 @ 1:08 am PDT
Last week I finally read The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, by Mark Kurlansky. My dad gave it to me while we were in Vegas last month but I didn’t get to seriously dig into it because I’ve been a bit swamped at work lately. Kurlansky is a wonderful writer and this is […]
Naperville Public Library Books January 31st, 2007 @ 5:58 am PDT
When I got to the office today there was a package sitting on my desk. I received my sixth copy of Gregg Easterbrook‘s “The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse” — I keep giving them away! — via Amazon’s used book marketplace. The book is in near-perfect condition, perhaps because it […]
Bleachers – John Grisham January 5th, 2007 @ 4:24 pm PDT
Last night I finished reading Bleachers, by John Grisham. (I read it in three or four 50-page bursts; it’s not very long.) It’s a story about the legacy of a dying high school football coach. The main character is the star quarterback who returns home fifteen years after graduation to pay his respects and come […]
