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Don

donpdonp@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 4 months ago

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Don's books

Currently Reading

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story (2012, Simon & Schuster)

Review of 'Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story' on 'Goodreads'

I was genuinely surprised by the quality of the writing. I would really like to know how much of it was from Arnold directly (the ghostwriter is Peter Petre). It kept my interest for the whole 650 pages. What I appreciated most was how Arnold approaches his life with a clear goal and a positivity that is carried through the entire book. He's thanking and praising everyone and always turning a problem into a personal challenge.

It was fascinating to see the 'side deals' he mentions such as real estate in Santa Monica. He talks about his payments as a lead actor in various films. I didnt know his wife was part of the Kennedy political family. The child with his housecleaner is mentioned over about 4 pages near the very end. He states plainly at one point that Maria has separated from him but he'd like to be back …

Kevin Kelly: What technology wants (Hardcover, 2010, Viking)

A fascinating, innovative, and optimistic look at how humanity and technology join to produce increasing …

Review of 'What technology wants' on 'Goodreads'

This is a most fantastic explanation and imagining of technology as a historical force and a living organism and how it affects humanity. This book blew my mind more than once.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Fooled by randomness (2005, Random House Trade Paperbacks)

"[Taleb is] Wall Street's principal dissident. . . . [Fooled By Randomness] is to conventional …

Review of 'Fooled by randomness' on 'Goodreads'

This book makes a few good points, sandwiched between a lot of elitism. The points I liked were

We are biologically predisposed to reproduction, and not really good at anything else, especially estimating and working with randomness.
The 'old' story of send 50 people a letter saying GOOG will go down, and 50 people a letter saying GOOD will go up in the next week. Once that week has passed, take the 50 people you were correct about, and do the same thing for each half of that group. With each iteration you have a group where you've been right 100% of the time for how every many weeks you want. This 'proven track record' might sound convincing yet completely random.

Michael Lemonick: Mirror Earth

Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet's Twin is a 2012 non-fiction book by Michael …

Review of 'Mirror Earth' on 'Goodreads'

Lemonick is fantastic at explaining complicated processes in an easy and engaging style. It shows in this work on the history of "planet hunting". I learned a lot about the culture of astronomers as well as the qualities of 'habitable' planets.

reviewed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Ready Player One, #1)

Ernest Cline, Ernest Cline (duplicate): Ready Player One (Paperback, 2011, Crown Publishers)

Ready Player One is a 2011 science fiction novel, and the debut novel of American …

Review of 'Ready Player One' on 'Goodreads'

"A love letter to the 80s" was in some review and best sums up the book. The plot was fun and the 80s references are fast and plentiful. The VR world was well described. It shows its teen-fiction nature only by the weak character motivations.

Daniel Suarez: Kill Decision (2012)

Kill Decision is a science fiction novel by Daniel Suarez, published in 2012. It deals …

Review of 'Kill Decision' on 'Goodreads'

This book had only pieces of the future-tech excitement of the previous two books. The plot was predictable, the selection of future-tech ideas didnt complement each other as in previous books.

Corey Olsen: Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The hobbit (2012, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

"The Hobbit is one of the most widely read and best-loved books of the twentieth …

Review of "Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The hobbit" on 'Goodreads'

A fantastic classic. This is my first read. I loved the animated movie as a child and its interesting to see the scenes and little bits like moods and character interactions that didnt make it into the movie.

Neal Stephenson: Reamde (2011, William Morrow)

Reamde is a speculative fiction novel by Neal Stephenson, published in 2011. The story, set …

Review of 'Reamde' on 'Goodreads'

This is an action/adventure story with little of the complexity of any of Stevenson's previous books. There are some interesting MMORPG elements but its largely an international man-hunt james-bond-style story.