Algorithms to Live By

It's a little dry, given the subject matter, but it is so good I was disappointed when I realized that the last third is just attributions and references. I wanted more. As a computer engineer I was already familiar with every algorthim touched on, but this book put them in a perspective I'd never seen them from before and made some of them click in a way that feels more like understanding. Especially the chapter on sorting, and the one on game theory. I was disappointed to find that there's no real solution to game theory, but I suppose that's what makes games entertaining. When a sequel comes out, I'll pick it up right away.

An overview computer science textbook meets a philosophical reflection on the lived human condition meets practical advice column... kinda perfect, for me at least. While this had the risk of becoming all kinds of rough nerd self-help or self-absorbed sensationalist cleverness, the author's applications of compsci approaches to categories of daily life end up neatly riding the line between humble and profound. But perhaps this is just so readable because it closely matches how I see the world.