Dataclysm

This is a really interesting book. We’re hearing a lot about big data, but here is a different look at some of it. Everything here is fresh. This is not another attempt to explain statistical methods either. Rather, the data speaks for itself (selves? “data” is plural, if you want to be technical). There is so much of it out there that we can now see very revealing trends. These are often in line with cultural assumptions, but there are some new insights, too. And, it’s all backed up by numbers. The volume alone is outstanding, and the author repeats a fact that I still find shocking: there are more tweeted words in two years than printed words for as long as there have been printed words.

Nest

As with my last review, I want to leave out specific events from this book’s plot. Instead I will attempt to explain how the book is unique, and why it is worth reading. (That’s the point of a review, isn’t it?) This book is sad, and, in parallel, really quite charming – that descriptor just seems to fit.

The Magician's Land

Note: I won a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.

As this is the third book in a trilogy, I had to read the first two first, so I will treat the three as a whole for purposes of this review. Each book could stand on its own, but they’re even better together, as a series. Once again, it’s hard for me to review fiction without giving away too much. The plot, each book by itself, and the larger story in one, is compelling; your interest and attention are held with an iron grip.

Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers | Blue Horses

I was very lucky to win both of these through goodreads, and as they arrived around the same time, I thought I would feature them together here. Both are pocket-sized and full of admiration of nature. These will be nice to carry around and think about outside somewhere.

The Rosie Effect

The predecessor to “The Rosie Effect” hit a little too close to home for me: a geneticist uncomfortable in many social situations, among other reasons. Having read a few other books that deal in one way or another with the autism spectrum, I understand this condition to be different in all people anyway. Thus I feel that writing of that perspective from the outside requires caution in attaining a semblance of accuracy. So, I wasn’t sure what to think, but accepted that the story of Don and Rosie is a romantic comedy, and is best when taken lightly. These books are very entertaining, and unlike Don Tillman’s approach, it shouldn’t be picked apart in a logical way.

A Forest A River and me

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patrick Michael Murphy offers a very close and personal look into living off the grid. In this book he is in Idaho, near the Priest River. While he had lived in other similar places, this time he was much more on his own. His friend Stan helped him construct the two cabins on the land, which they had decided to purchase together and utilize with the lowest possible impact. This is a lifestyle many environmental types might fantasize of pursuing, but is full of challenges and unexpected complications. Patrick went into this situation with substantial credit card debt among other obstacles, but made a great effort to live this way, and shares some of his lessons in this book.

2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas

A feel-good book is always welcome. Many readers will find “2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas” to have an overall uplifting effect. If you liked “The Good Luck of Right Now” (see also “Silver Linings Playbook”) you will probably also delight in this Philadelphia story. The Cat’s Pajamas is a jazz club in Philadelphia’s Fishtown – another name I like. The house band there is the Cubanistas, led by Max Cubanista, who tells people he is from Cuba. Lorca, however, inherited the place along with the prized Snakehead guitar. His son Alex, the next generation, practices guitar when he can, while in another part of the city young Madeleine hopes to sing, anywhere, since they won’t let her at Saint Anthony’s. Her teacher and her principle – childhood classmate of Madeleine’s recently deceased mother – don’t know what to do with this sassy girl. The things a child like Madeleine worries about, and isn’t afraid of, and the grown-ups, they have their significant memories and imaginings. Everyone has their flaws, and their positive character traits. One complaint I’d have is that some of the secondary characters are a little hard to sort out; they are in and out, usually together, so telling one from another may require a closer second reading. However, I give this book points for the descriptions of music, and for its real originality, making the unnoticed details of everyday life shine, and in the crossing paths of the various characters. Though the chapters are only an hour or less apart, each passage feels like a new day, showing how much can happen in a day – and a night.

Flight Ways

“Flight Ways” focuses on five groups of birds (albatrosses, vultures, penguins, cranes, and crows) and their risks of extinction. I think this might be good for a class, though I would not purchase this book for myself. He is a bit repetitive, even with the people he cites, though it is all to help make a point. The author explains why he sees extinction not as an event but a long process, and case studies in the form of stories are one way to help illustrate this concept. It is well researched and at times informative, but not always the most pleasurable reading. It’s more like a lecture or seminar. After the first chapter I ignored the footnotes.

The Great Glass Sea

This expired before I could get very far, but it seems really interesting, a story I want to take the time to read, whether I can get it at the library or another physical copy. The idea of a giant greenhouse, “under the dome” kind of experiment, where it’s always day time, is very intriguing. And while I don’t know as much about Russian history as I’d like, this seems a timely read as well. I found it a little hard to keep track of some of the names, and other Russian words. I am thankful for the opportunity to read through Net Galley. I hope I can read the entire book someday. Also,not to judge a book by its cover, I do like the artwork on this one.

Three Bargains

Set in northern India, “Three Bargains” is decorated with many colorful, not always familiar, words. So many that I underlined them in pencil, when I normally don’t like to write in books, and made my own kind of glossary, thanks to Wikipedia and Wiktionary. Food, clothing, occupations, religious and cultural practices are among these words new to me, yet the clarity of the writing and story-telling is remarkable. Reading about Madan, Avtaar Singh, Jaggu, all of the characters – their personalities are immediate and well-focused. The novel tells Madan’s story through so many events, good, bad, and deadly, and never strays far from the intensity behind this young man. Avtaar Singh – always those two names together, sometimes with the suffix “-ji”, and only once as “Avtaar Uncle,” is a powerful mobster – really, I think that is an accurate comparison. For certain I do not agree with his way of conducting business; much of western culture, too is perhaps at odds with his approach, but to see the way he balanced good and evil, and how this passed on to Madan, is exceptionally well done by Tania Malik. Often Madan thinks that violence upon others will settle his soul, but how can it? That is something I cannot understand, though it is not to say that any of these people are all evil or all good. At times Madan does a good deed to follow the bad one, even involving the same person. Time, too, shapes his outlook, and that of his family as well. There is plenty to think about while, and after, reading this.