Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Sunday, August 24th, 2008 by BH
Flying Crows by Jim Lehrer. A fascinating and fun read by the host of the famous tv show that bears his name. The story is a quick look at 20th century America through one man's life. Recommended.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I had mixed emotions about this and though I ...
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Thursday, August 21st, 2008 by BH
Gavin Menzies, an amateur historian, is back with another book. His first book, which I did not read, claims that China discovered America. His new book claims the Chinese sparked the Renaissance. I have not read his new book either. For more see the telegraph (HT).
On a semi-related note, from ...
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Thursday, July 24th, 2008 by BH
Enough books on environmental doom have been printed to kill off a forest of giant redwoods.
That's Harvard economist Edward Glaeser reviewing Paul and Anne Ehrlich's new book, The Dominant Animal, in the New York Sun (NYS). For the most part he likes the book, just not their policy recommendations. For ...
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Saturday, July 12th, 2008 by BH
So far Pandora Radio is great. The only downside is that you cannot listen to music if you leave the program, so you cannot read the news while listening to the radio, but that is a small complaint. cnet has much more on Pandora. Other apps vary considerably. I just ...
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Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 by BH
Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky. A meaty read, as I indicated in a previous post.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. This is obviously a classic and I feel bad only getting to it now. It is a great example of what a popular nonfiction book should be. It has ...
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Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 by BH
I am about halfway through Clay Shirky's book. So far so good. For example:
Communication tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. The invention of a tool doesn't create change; it has to have been around long enough that most of society is using it. It's when a ...
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Sunday, June 15th, 2008 by BH
In honor of Father's Day and the recent passing of Tim Russert, here is a nice piece by Stone Phillips about Big Russ and Me, which is the current bestseller on Amazon. The piece is introduced by Tom Brokaw and the report includes interviews with a great cast of characters ...
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Sunday, June 15th, 2008 by BH
Amazon is gradually approaching monopoly status in the provision of books and is increasingly willing to exert its market power in several areas of the book business. From the NYT:
In the latest in a series of disputes over the division of revenue from online sales, Amazon has disabled the “buy ...
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Thursday, April 10th, 2008 by CJB
I think in today's society people read more news and factual (nonfiction) books than in days/decades/centuries past. Maybe my assumption is wrong, but let's (this apostrophe "s" is for you AR) go with it anyway. Is this a good thing or a bad thing for society or for the individuals partaking ...
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 by BH
I meant to get to this earlier, but HarperCollins is embarking on a new project, and it sounds interesting, if not promising (NYT):
“The idea is, ‘Let’s take all the things that we think are wrong with this business and try to change them,’ ” said Mr. Miller, 51. “It really ...
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Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 by BH
Words of wisdom (HT):
People assume that if you're not actually sitting with a book in your lap, you're not really reading. Whereas most of what people are doing online is reading. Sending text messages or sitting with a magazine or a comic is reading. There are all kinds of reading, ...
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Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 by BH
Meanwhile, imprerial expansion took coffee to Indonesia, South America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the world. Coffee probably reached North America in the early 1600s. Its popularity spread, and by 1670, coffee had replaced beer as New York City's favorite breakfast drink.
That is Nancy F. Koehn, describing the spread ...
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Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 by BH
Eco-Libris is a startup company that lets consumers pay to plant a tree to offset the paper used in books. (HT) The trees are planted in developing countries, so the purchase does not directly offset trees consumed in the US. Here is a good interview with Raz Godelnik, founder. I ...
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Sunday, March 9th, 2008 by BH
by Tim Hartford. The book forum over at Marginal Revolution is over, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read the book anyway. As you go along you can read what Tyler and company wrote:
Chapter 1: Introducing the Logic of Life
Chapter 2: Las Vegas
Chapter 3: Is Divorce Underrated?
Chapter 4: Why Your ...
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Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 by BH
Those are my six words. Hemingway had the famous: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” AS directs me to this New Yorker piece about a forthcoming book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, full of 6 word memoirs. For related entries, see here, here (with photos), and here.
Update: watch the video on Amazon's site.
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Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 by BH
His wonderful novel, Things Fall Apart, turns 50 this year. Stories here, here, and here. His writing is highly recommended (HT). From Bard College:First published in 1958, Things Fall Apart tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The novel has been translated into more than ...
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Thursday, February 21st, 2008 by BH
According to Refdesk, on this day in 1848 the Communist Manifesto was published. It would have been a great twist of fate had Fidel waited until today to resign.
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Friday, February 15th, 2008 by BH
The season is good. If you need more than just a show, a few resources I like:
The books that shape Lost. If only I had the time...
Is Lost a repeat? A simple site, with a simple but helpful answer (HT).
I think Jeff (Doc) Jensen has the best (craziest) coverage.
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 by BH
No, not him. From Creating Modern Capitalism by Thomas McCraw:In 1830, when the nation’s first major railway was opened between Liverpool and Manchester, Britain entered the modern transportation age. The first locomotive, called the “Rocket,” traveled as fast as 25 miles an hour. At a time when a loaded horse-drawn wagon ...
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Sunday, February 10th, 2008 by BH
Tim Hartford, see below, has a spot on the Stephen Colbert show. Even Colbert can't keep it together in this one. Some of the topics include: which president you want to get a beer with, and hence vote for, oral sex, regular sex, unprotected sex, obesity and laziness, teen smoking, ...
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