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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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."

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

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.

View all my reviews >>

'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: