Read Books This will provide a list of the books I've read with a brief review. Users are blocked, contact me for access. I welcome discussions, but I'm tired of spam.

April 26, 2011

Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayworth

Filed under: Uncategorized — Randolph @ 7:12 am

Heads You Lost by Lisa Lutz and David Hayworth

Heads You Lose tells the story of Paul and Lacey Hansen. They are pot grower who find a headless body in their yard and are afraid to call the police. So they move the body, but it turns up again. They begin their investigation involving some odd characters in a small town.

The characters personalities change from chapter to chapter, events happen out of the blue, and it is otherwise a disappointing mystery.

But that isn’t what the book is about.

The book is about the authors. Formerly a couple, who decided to co-auther a book. They are strictly hands-off for what the other person creates, well, sort of. The rules are they alternate chapters and do not undo or strongly change what the other has written. But they threaten each other, they mess with each other’s characters, and the banter makes the book!

Each chapter indicates which author wrote that chapter, a saving grace! I constantly referred to the header to see whose chapter this was, the writing author was in a normal font, the other was slightly grayed.

Each chapter ends with a letter from the chapter author and a return from the other. The authors leave footnote comments on the other’s work. This is what drives the book. This is the real plot. It is funny, occasionally laugh-out-lout hilarious. The book is worth the read and is time well spent.

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. After finishing, I don’t feel like these authors have much more to offer, the material was covered and its done.

Heads You Lose is still a good book and well worth the read.

April 11, 2011

Business Rule Concepts by Ronald G. Ross

Filed under: Technical — Tags: — Randolph @ 6:46 pm

http://www.librarything.com/work/1364716/72242712

Business Rule Concepts by Ronald G. Ross
This book provides a good introduction to business rules and their management. It covers the material in a good manner for those unfamiliar with the issues, introducing language, governance, knowledge management, and related material in an easy-to-understand manner. It is a quick read, but probably boring to those familiar with the territory.

The author compares business rules and management to the human body. The analogy works ok, but he only introduces concepts that way, mostly early in the book. It seems odd to focus so much on that point with the cover.

April 1, 2011

101 Theory Drive by Terry McDermott

Filed under: History,Science,Technical — Randolph @ 6:59 pm

101 Theory Drive by Terry McDermott
101 Theory Drive is the story of Dr. Gary S. Lynch’s work in his quest for understanding the mechanism of memory in the brain. In his quest, he uncovers mechanisms for remembering, and for not remembering, and uncovers a mechanism leading to a theory for consciousness. The title refers to the address of his lab, in a business park across from the University of California at Irvine.

The book does a good job of describing the history of the work, the people involved, and building a character for Dr. Lynch. There is a lot of technical detail presented and the mechanisms uncovered are understandable if you can follow the physiology. There are only three (or four?) diagrams charting elements of neurons and their parts and a glossary of terms. The most difficult part of the book is understanding the details so as to understand the research. I tired of referring back to the images, and suspect the details won’t be retained long.

Much of the story feels like a science book, there isn’t a lot to keep the reader excited or involved. But for its 260+ pages, it was a relatively fast read.

The book does have good information, but it would help to know something about neuron details before starting. I suspect there is a better book out there somewhere.

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