swingbeat: 12/26: Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Freakonomics is a book about what happens when an economist uses analysis techniques to answer weird questions. Some of them:

1. If drug dealers are so rich, why do they live with their moms?
2. What do sumo wrestlers and schoolteachers have in common?
3. Do real estate agents really work for you?

Levitt is a professor of economics. He asks and answers pretty tough questions, like the ones above. He provides numerical data for his theses and encourages the reader to view what experts say skeptically, and to look at the facts himself.

I definitely recommend this book for sure, if only to understand why Roe v. Wade caused the decline of crime in the late 1990's. :).

Rich: (4/26) "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C. S. Lewis

The last book that I remember re-reading was for a class in 1996. With so many great books to be discovered, I don't like to spend time sowing over past fields.

But, there I was. I was in the middle of chaos. People were grabbing as many books as they could between their paws and dumping them into their brown shopping bags. I had arrived late -- the book sale had entered its bargain phase, and people were loading up. I only like to take books that I have a chance of actually reading. My bag was empty.

Sure, there were tens of copies of "Bridges of Madison County" left and plenty of Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Nora Roberts. But, nothing caught my eye, as I walked through the pillaged remains of the sale. But, I happened upon this book, which I had read back in sixth or seventh grade. After a moment's hesitation, I put it under my arm. Had it not been for the frenzied book hoarding, I do not know if it would have earned a place in my bag.

But, supposedly this book is chock full of symbolism. Surely, I had missed it when I was a child. I enjoyed it then, but this time around, I'd read it with the eyes of an adult. Indeed, I was worried that it would not live up to my memory of it.

It sat in that brown paper bag for a few weeks, then an opportunity surfaced. I had finished reading a long, drawn-out, challenging novel and needed an easier one to coast through. I picked up C. S. Lewis' book from my stash and started reading. I marveled at the simplicity of the language. It may be a kid's book, but it was exactly what I needed. There are no shades of gray here; there are heroes, and there are villians. For those names that include the word, "witch," destiny has already made up its mind; witches only come in the evil kind.

To read this book is to once again see the sun rise and marvel at its warmth and brilliance. I didn't need double-crosses and plot twists to keep me interested. This simple, unadulterated story refills the spirit, a more formidable task as the soul ages. Fortunate are those who have found their Narnia and Aslan.

Rich: (3/26) Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian

Each chapter of Soul Mountain is like a snapshot of the main character's photo album of his journey through countryside, away from the crowds and noise of the big cities. One chapter tells the tale of the old folk customs of villagers, and another describes his hunt in the wild for near-extinct forest creatures. We know neither his past nor his present and gradually learn about this man through his conversations with curious remote villagers, awe-struck by the big-city visitor. These wanderings sometimes test the reader's patience -- like reliving a friend's long vacation through a large stack of photos. Each photograph is truly beautiful, but unconnected with the next. It is impossible to anticipate what will be next, but the lonely traveler does not know where he is heading, either. He is torn between the need for solitude and the need to alleviate his own loneliness. So, even though has embarked on this solo journey, he seeks the companionship of the remote villagers. The reader can feel his excitement and fear when he encounters a beautiful, innocent young girl along the way. Here, Gao explores the conflict between Buddhist and Taoist ideas of solitude leading to greater understanding of oneself and societal instincts to gather together to create family units.

Part-novel, part-philosophy, and part auto-biography, Soul Mountain is not an easy read. It is a challenging, but pretty philosophical exploration of the self.

swingbeat: 11/26 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

This is a pretty interesting book. It's all about how little changes result in large effects. He starts off talking about fashion trends, crime rates, and other behavioral epidemics. There are many epidemics that take place after a particular inflection point. These epidemics aren't disease-related, but they are about how various ideas and memes that spread from person to person.

There are three rules for an epidemic to take off.

Rule #1 is the Law of the Few. This law is about how ideas spread through the influence of a few people, and how a there are three types of people who do so. They are:

Connectors: People who know many people. They are comfortable with "weak link" relationships, e.g. sending Christmas cards to acquaintances, and maintaining such relationships. Think about your current friends, you probably met many of those people through just a few people. Those are connectors.

Mavens: People who absorb and disseminate information. Find the latest cool tip/trick to save money? Need someone to tell you what's the best vacuum cleaner to buy? Who would you turn to? That's the maven.

Salespeople: This is a person who can sell you on things. The salesperson, if enthusiastic about a particular product/idea, can infect other people with the idea.

If you have an idea you want to spread, pass it along to these three people. But it's more than just knowing the right people.

Rule #2 is the Stickiness Factor. The message that your trying to spread must _stick_ in the mind of people who listen to it. If it's a commercial, it must be entertaining. If it's a new product, it must be good. This part is pretty obvious.

Rule #3 is the Power of Context. An idea will only take off in a particular environment. There are interesting examples of this in the book, which aren't really that obvious.

I recommend this book. I don't think it's as life-changing as some people make it sound, but it does provide some food for thought. The author takes these simple ideas and beats you over the head with examples, so at least they stick :).

Bridget: 11/26: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud

Sorry no picture and no link this time. I am blogging from a school computer and we can't do a bunch of crazy things on here. It is crazy not having internet access at home. I figured that I better blog now before I forget what the book was about! I told you all that once I started school you wouldn't hear from me for a while!

574pp. This is the second book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I have to admit that the book wasn't as good as the first (Amulet of Samarkand). This book took me a LONG time to read mostly because it didn't suck me in. There are some books that you stay up late reading even if you have a test the next day. This wasn't one of them. Still good but I have more hope for the third book in the series. I sometimes find that book 2 is not as good because it is a pre-determined filler book. This was the case here in my opinion. The characters are still interesting. I like that the magicians are not invincible and that humans can fight back if they so desire. I also like that the demons have more complicated reasons for existence other than mass chaos and destruction.

Plot with no spoilers: the magician Nathaniel calls upon Bartimaeus (djinn/demon he summoned in the first book) to assist him in finding the people who are behind various attacks on the magical community in London. We learn more about "The Resistance" (non-magical people who have defensive abilities to magic). Nathaniel had a conscience in the first book which seems to diminish a bit in this book because of his added abilities and growth in power.

I would still recommend this book if you plan on reading the complete trilogy.

yong : book 3/25 : Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

1463 pages. That's one thousand four hundred sixty-three pages. I've been struggling through this quagmire, this fontis, for almost two months, and it has been both ordeal and pleasure. And in the end worth the effort.

One neat tech feature: On Amazon, you can read and search the entire text of this book. Had I known about it, it would have been nice for looking up details of a character last mentioned 900 pages prior.

I bought this book on November 3, 1987, when I was in the ninth grade. Never tackled it till now. At times, it felt like Moby Dick, that awful doorstop that's maybe 20% story and 80% chaff, whereas this book was merely 50% chaff through the first half--half being over seven hundred pages--and improving to maybe 25% chaff by the end. Be warned, this chaff makes it almost impossible to maintain any momentum in plowing through this book. Here is fifty pages describing Napoleon's battle at Waterloo, of which only the last two paragraphs are directly relevant to our story. Fly through thirty pages of story only to be stopped cold by forty pages about the history and habits of a convent of Bernadictine-Benedictine nuns. And so it goes. It seems Victor Hugo's ambition was to capture all of France in particular and humanity in general in one single book. He's certainly not the only writer that's tried, but he may be the only one who required 1463 pages to do it in.

But in the end, as might makes right, his characters and their story overpower all objections. Truth is a light, and these pages glow; it sometimes dazzled my eyes, and sometimes blurred them to tears.

From your editor:
We should all be starting book 4.

That is all.

One of us took an 18 mile moonlit stroll this weekend. Good job.

- K

From your editor:

I have nothing to say re: my reading progress....

What was the most flattering (hyperbolic or not) thing someone had said about you this week?
I have two already, and it's only Wednesday! ^_^

1. (Non-hyperbolic) "You're doing something different with your hair, aren't you? What are you doing with your hair? Because whatever it is, it's good."
2. (Hyperbolic) "[name of coworker] read it and understood it, so you should have no problem understanding it, because you're 1800 times smarter than [name of coworker]."

Flattered,
- K

From your editor:
Pride has given way to anticipatory desperation. Yes I will count my textbook for my Worldwide Perspective of Christian Missions towards my 26. When I finish.

Last night, after a heavy dinner of Bahn Mi, I strolled over to Green Apple Books. For the first time in about 6 months, I paid retail for a book.

It is one for which I've longed for a long time; almost a year, I'd say. I found used versions of the book, but none had the right cover art which I liked. Finally, rationalizing that a) I haven't bought a book at retail in a long time, and that b) I've searched and waited enough, I decided I deserved it.

- K

swingbeat: 10/26: Portraits of his Children by George R. R. Martin

Yet another George R. R. Martin book :).

This is a collection of short stories throughout his early career. Hard to review something like this. As usual, he's an engaging writer, and the stories go by pretty smoothly. The stories are of the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Most of them are good, but a couple of them I just didn't "get" at the end - the climactic pinnacle was lost on me. But you know me, I'm kinda dense that way :)

Recommended.