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...

Halloween a day early

Us Nevada folk have a bit of a scheduling issue with Halloween - Oct. 31st is Nevada Day, so sometimes Halloween gets celebrated at odd times. This year, trick or treating was happening on Oct. 30th in Carson City, and the 31st in Reno. So, we spent the evening of Friday the 30th at grandparents place in Carson with the whole crew. Here's the kids:



And Nanny leading them out for trick or treating:



Julien had a haul, and sorted it out on the floor: