Lathe of Heaven

The Lathe Of Heaven: A Novel by Ursula K. Le Guin


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Classic sci-fi from Ursula LeGuin - with her particular voice. A mind-bending tale of the power of dreams, that'ss held up very well since it's writing 25 years ago.

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Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time

Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals by Richard Conniff


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Richard Conniff's live has taken him around the world, reporting on animals and the people who study them. He's had some opportunities to do "dumb stuff" (as he puts it), like allowing himself to be bitten by fire ants or stung by jellyfish. But he also presents his experiences in a way that is not only entertaining, but gives us some of the fascinating science behind the creatures.

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Larry's Kidney

Larry's Kidney: (Being the Story of) How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Breaking Chinese Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life by Daniel Asa Rose


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Daniel Rose's "black-sheep" cousin is dying of kidney failure, and wants to take advantage of "medical tourism" to jump the long line for one in the U.S. and find a kidney in China. Along the way, they confront the mushy ethics of the situation, some long buried familial issues, and the culture shock that awaits them in China. Interesting but bizarre; moving but confusing.

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Odd and the Frost Giants

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read this out loud on a car trip. Wonderful little story, with Gaiman's characteristic magical storytelling and lovable characters.

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The Orange Wire Problem

The Orange Wire Problem and Other Tales from the Doctor's Office by David Watts


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
David Watts is a gastroenterologist with the soul of a poet - well, actually he's a poet as well. In this series of essays, he tells the stories of triumphs and tragedies in his practice, but always with an eye open to the unexpected and the possibilities to learn. Made me respect the job doctors have to to.

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Punching In

Punching In: One Man's Undercover Adventures on the Front Lines of America's Best-Known Companies by Alex Frankel


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For some reason, I was expecting a little more humor from this book. There wasn't much there, but what WAS there was a well-thought look into some of the biggest "branded" companies in the country. Alex Frankel spent time working for companies such as UPS, Starbucks, Apple and Gap, and looks at their hiring practices, corporate culture, and other facets of their business. Fascinating, and will affect the way I look at front-line employees of these companies.

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The Cello Suites

The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece by Eric Siblin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm a bit intrigued by books that model their structure after their subject - like this, which has six chapters of six sections, like Bach's Cello Suites. In this case, Eric Siblin makes it work very well - the sections are short and easily digestible, and follow either the life of Bach, the career of Pablo Casals (the cellist who popularized the Suites,) or the author's own journey of research into the music. No earth-shattering revelations here; just the story of how Bach's music can still affect us and be relevant today.

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The Visual Miscellaneum

The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia by David McCandless


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What an amazing book. A collection of trivia statistics, all arranged in visually arresting charts and diagrams. The experience of reading it was only marred by printing errors that left some vital info off of a few pages, but the errata is available at the author's web site.

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Knives at Dawn

Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition by Andrew Friedman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A very interesting glimpse into the world of international cooking contests, Knives at Dawn tracks the U.S. entrants in the 2009 Bocuse d'Or competition. Captivating story, but it was muted by some of the author's writing - the descriptions of the contestants and coaches felt condescending.

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The Fourth Part of the World

The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Making of History's Greatest Map by Toby Lester


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The scope of this book was a lot broader than I expected. I thought it was going to be more about a specific map, but the story of the Waldseemuller map was really just a bookend to a pretty full history of cartography and exploration. Well researched and in-depth, possibly a little more so than I was looking for.

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Let The Great World Spin

Let the Great World Spin: A Novel by Colum McCann


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a little more "literary" than my normal fiction taste, but I took it on a coworker's strong recommendation and really enjoyed it. It takes place in mid 1970's New York City, and loosely revolves around one man's tightrope transit of the new World Trade Center buildings. The city seems to tie only tangentially related people together, and we are allowed to explore their stories through each other. Though it took me a little while to be captivated by the story, as I finished it the one thought I had was "That was perfect."

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Genius Denied

Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds by Jan Davidson


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
By the founders of the Davidson Academy here in Reno, Genius Denied covers how our public education system fails the gifted student and what we can do about it. Focused on the "profoundly gifted" child, but also holds true for many above-average students.

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Gingerbread geekery

In between shoveling snow on this day off, the kids and I assembled the gingerbread houses that we planned and baked over the weekend. Some pictures:


Pieces for Julien and Sofia's houses


Houses partially assembled


Julien decorating


Sofia decorating


Sofia hard at work


Julien's house


Sofia finished


Julien finished

And now for the geekiness. My house this year is something I've wanted to do for awhile - a gingerbread Parthenon. Just a few pictures, here:


Parthenon assembly


Front view


Top view

So that was fun. Hmm - I wonder if I need to shovel again?

Snow day pictures

About a foot and a half of snow here in Reno. Sofia got out to play in it bright and early.


Driveway snow angels


With the head and all important hair drawn in


"This is hijantic snow!"

Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation

Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation by Elizabeth Beckwith


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Yes, this is meant to be a "humor" title. At least mostly. 70% humorous? Actually, the percentage is probably pretty flexible. Elizabeth Beckwithtakes us on a ride through parenting that rides the edge between crazy, funny, and uncomfortably true. Wait. Can there be an edge between three things? Anyway. Fun stuff.

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Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me

Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me by Ben Karlin


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A collection of essays, some better than others, by a mix of writers and comedians, dealing with - well, basically getting dumped. Some fall back on male/female stereotypes and feel hackneyed, but others come up with some creative insights and genuinely funny stories.

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'Mo Progress

Thanks everyone for the kind donations to Movember's drive. Looks like I'll be keeping the mustache until New Years. Here's a little slide show of the progress up to this point:

From Square One

From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords by Dean Olsher


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've read a few crossword books in the past couple of years (although I haven't really been doing puzzles lately) and this one doesn't disappoint. A rambling, but always interesting look at puzzling's history and possible future, with a bit of focus on "cryptic crosswords."

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Mustache ransom

Any last-minute donations? How about this: For every dollar donated today, the 'stache lives another day. Anyone want to see it around until Christmas? Come on, people, put your money where my mo is!

The Vintage Caper

The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The latest fiction from Peter Mayle, a wine-based mystery in his own gastro-gumshoe style. Lots of fun, over too quickly.

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The Secret Lives of Buildings

The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories by Edward Hollis


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
From the Parthenon to the Las Vegas strip, The Secret Lives of Buildings traces the histories of twelve buildings mostly through the lives of some of their inhabitants. Lyrical, and with a rolling sense of history, you're left with the sense that these are only a fraction of the stories that are out there to be told.

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The Case for Pluto

The Case for Pluto by Alan Boyle


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very readable and accessible book about the discovery of the smaller planets, and the controversy that's surrounded the recent reclassification of the "dwarf planets." Kept my attention all the way through.

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Cleaving

Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julie Powell


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The story behind the Julie of Julie & Julia, 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen, a heart-string tugging confessional mixed with a foodie journey. Julie lays out the path of her marriage and infidelities, while at the same time tracing her apprenticeship in a New Jersey butcher shop and travels around the world to learn about meat. Balanced but emotional, intellectually interesting while emotionally fascinating. Hard to put down.

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Perfect Rigor

Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century by Masha Gessen


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The story of Grigory Perelman and his solution to Poincare's Conjecture, a mathematical problem that seemed unlikely to be solved. His early life, the situation in Russian mathematics (stifling anti-Semitism), his career path, and eventual withdrawal before his solution emerged. Good description of the math without being too technical (which would have lost my interest.)

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Generation A

Generation A: A Novel by Douglas Coupland


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really, REALLY liked this book while reading it. Given a night to sleep on it, perhaps it wasn't quite as strong as I'd thought, but it still was very enjoyable.

Douglas Coupland's dry wit and sparkling grasp of pop culture bring us a story set in the near future, in a world reeling from the loss of the planet's bees, and the lack of plant pollination. Five people around the world are mysteriously stung by bees, and the ensuing rush to understand why brings insight into themselves and all of us.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So that's why this book has been so popular. A fun, heartwarming and poignant story of a London author discovering the lives of the islanders of Guernsey, their struggles during the war, and how she fits in to it all.

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Eating The Dinosaur

Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Ramblings a la Klosterman on pop culture, music, celebrity, and sports. Some hit the mark perfectly, some were just so-so. But always interesting.

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Mo progress

Well, the mustache is coming along. I have a feeling I'll be in this "in-between" stage for most of the month. My team (City of ReMo) is doing a great job of fundraising; they're almost to their goal of $5000, before halfway through the month! Here's my fundraising page, and thanks -

Bicycle Diaries

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This isn't really a book about bicycling. Sure, David Byrne does bring up bicycling quite a bit as a great way to experience different places and cities, but THAT's the focus - the experience of different places. It's the thoughts of a modern citizen of the world as events take him from New York to Berlin to Buenos Aires to Manila. Never boring, and a great glimpse into Byrne's world.

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Superfreakonomics

SuperFreakonomics: Tales of Altruism, Terrorism, and Poorly Paid Prostitutes by Steven D. Levitt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What can you say? If you liked Freakonomics A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, you'll love this. Same kinds of microeconomic examples that make you look at the world a little differently. Same wry humor mixed with fascinating statistics. Excellent.

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Guinea Pig Diaries

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A.J. Jacobs's two previous books, The Year of Living Biblically One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible and The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest To Become The Smartest Person In The World fall into a category I really like - the "guy-takes-a-year-off-to-do-something" (it's usually a male, for some reason. Women must be too smart to do this stuff.) Whether it's making no trash, trying to qualify for the Olympics, or tracing Odysseus's voyage, I find this stuff fascinating. Escapist, perhaps, but fun. The Guinea Pig Diaries My Life as an Experiment is a colleciton of small experiments that Jacobs has done, like practicing Radical Honesty, outsourcing his life, and doing everything his wife says for a month. It's his same style of writing I've enjoyed from his previous books (except the parts he outsourced, or that were written by his wife, which were great, too.) Very recommended if you liked his earlier stuff or this genre.

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And Another Thing

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yep, the sixth book in the trilogy. Eoin Colfer takes over the writing of the Hitchhiker's Guide books, and I think he does a pretty good job. True to the source material, while retaining a voice of his own, and with the spirit of Douglas Adams writing while bringing the series into modern times. Starts with a nice recap - which I appreciated, since it had been awhile since I've read the original set. Very fun - I'm glad all the favorite characters are back, and I'm glad Eoin Colfer took a crack at it.

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Movember

My previous attempts at growing any sort of facial hair have been humorous and strange. It is thus with trepidation that I announce my participation in Movember, in which during the month of November I will grow a mustache and accept donations toward men's health issues. I'm part of the City of ReMo team, and here's my fundraising page. And, of course, the starting point; the blank slate that by the end of the month will be a beautiful 'stache. Or Mo. Or whatever. But in my case, it'll probably just look like a dirty upper lip...

Quick trip to SF

Sofia's 5th birthday is coming up, and she told us she wanted to go to San Francisco and ride the cable cars. We had a free weekend over Halloween, so decided to go down Saturday, see the city, stay with Mich's Aunt Buttons in Berkeley, and come back Sunday. After Halloween a day early in Carson City, we got up as early as we could and headed out. Got to Berkeley, collected Aunt Buttons, and headed to BART. Here's Julien steppin' out for the day:



Rode the train over to the city, got out at Powell, took a look at the cable car line, and decided to walk up to Chinatown. Had a nice little stroll:



Found the entrance to Chinatown:



Had a lunch of dim sum, did a little shopping, and continued walking across the city down to the water. Our eventual destination was Ghiradelli Square for some dessert, but it sure took us a while to find it. Sofia had some shoulder rides before we go there. Perked right up after an ice cream, though, as I'm sure you can see in these pictures...









Wow. Sugar high. We mooched around a little in line for the cable cars - Sofia danced to a guitar guy, and Julien outsmarted a card trick guy - and rode back to the BART station. Getting a little tired by this point...



But we managed to get in a little more trick or treating in Berkeley (on actual Halloween,) and a nice little dinner. Up the next morning for a quick breakfast, and back to Reno. Fun little trip, I hope Sofia had a nice birthday celebration. Seems like she did...