read: The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (4 stars)

The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fairly well-rounded account of computing innovations from Ada through the present.

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read: Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life (4 stars)

Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a big, ambitious book that is worth reading by anyone facing old age, which is everyone. San Francisco geriatrician Louise Aronson mines her decades of experience working with elderly patients to reveal nuggets of wisdom and hope, as well as a challenge for the American Healthcare System to do better. Unfortunately, the book is at least 150 pages too long. While the insights are keen and the anecdotes and case studies rich with illustration, it is often repetitive and gets sidetracked into like a memoire.

Those closer to (or in) the third act of life (after childhood and adulthood), should benefit from a better understanding of what to expect and plan for. I hope younger readers will gain a better understanding and appreciation of their possible future and what their elders are facing now.

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read: Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry Into the News (4 stars)

Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry Into the News by Jeffrey Bilbro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A thoughtful examination of how to approach the news of the world with a Christian perspective. The author starts with a quote from Thoreau: "Read not the Times, read the Eternities." and breaks down what that means from three angles: Attention, Time and Community.
Each section looks at the flawed assumptions and attitudes most modern readers bring to their consumption of news (and social networks) and contrasts that with writing from deep thinkers like Thoreau, Merton, Augustine, Auerbach and Dante. All of this sounds rather stuffy and scholarly. But the author is brief, direct and readable and also offers practical tips (liturgies) in a chapter at the end of each section. Recommended.

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read: Take Off Your Pants! Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing (4 stars)

Take Off Your Pants! Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing by Libbie Hawker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been writing first drafts for NaNoWriMo by the seat of my pants for several years. Every once in a while I try a lightweight outline method to 'really be organized, this time' and still wound up with a mess. I quite enjoyed this author's lighthearted approach and I think the light may have finally gone on about how to formulate a meaningful story. This probably isn't the silver bullet for killing the beast of writing a novel. But I'm going to give it a quick rescan and see if I can apply it to this years' NaNo.

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read: Great Stories Don't Write Themselves (4 stars)

Great Stories Don't Write Themselves by Larry Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An effective (for me) tutorial on some aspects of story that had been eluding me. Most of the focus is on understanding the criteria involved in the macro aspects of story: premise and concept, along with the related concepts of character, setting and plot.
Then he uses those criteria to present and break down story structure in way shows why even an organic writer eventually succumbs to structure in order to succeed (as a opposed to a outliner who struggles with the structure up front).
It's all nicely down-to-Earth and friendly and something that can be referred to again and again. There are no real surprises here. It's all been said before. But the author presents it in a way where several light bulbs finally illuminated for me.

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read: Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood (5 of 5 stars)

Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood by J. Michael Straczynski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Straczynski has used his considerable storytelling skills to tell his story. It is personal, unflinching and deeply moving, telling a rags-to-riches, hard-work-pays-off Hollywood story without being cloying, sensational  or scandalous. If you're a fan of Babylon 5, Superman, Spiderman, or comic books in general, this is required reading. If you're a writer struggling for inspiration, you'll find it here. If you're just looking for an engrossing story of endurance and overcoming circumstances, this is what you want.

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read: Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (4 stars)

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not getting enough sleep is bad for you. This book tells you how bad (it's worse than you think) and why. More than just a survey of sleep research (although it is that), it's a needed explanation of the many ways that sleep affects our physical, mental and emotional health. It doesn't provide a one-size-fits-all solution to your specific sleep issues. But readers should come away with a better understanding of how sleep works and some strategies to improve their own situation. Highly recommended.

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read: Being Geek: The Software Developer's Career Handbook (4 stars)

Being Geek: The Software Developer's Career Handbook by Michael Lopp
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Michael Lopp is the person behind the blog 'Rands in Repose', which explains the blog-like feel of this book. It may be presented as if it's a coherent guide to a career in the software industry. But it's clearly just an edited collection of articles on topics related to career, career management, and a management career. This is not really a weakness, but it's not always a strength, either. The book sometimes lacks flow.

A bigger weakness is that few of the articles really lead to any conclusion. Most will get you thinking about your own career or situation. This is good. Some also make solid suggestions for how be successful. This is better. But not all do. And even those that do are most relevent within the specific context of California's Silicon Valley during the first decade or so of the 21st century. In an industry that's always changing, career management is just as volatile.
The strength of the book comes in the voice of the author, Michael Lopp or Rands. He strikes a friendly, beleaguered tone that helps the reader identify with the situations and with the nuggets of advice being offered. Even though the advice is often more implied than spoonfed, I think most software developers will find something in here to help them in their working life, whether they are an individual contributor or a manager (or on their way to being a manager). Just read with a your own good judgement intact and use the articles as jumping off points for personal reflection.
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read: Agile Retrospectives (4 stars)

Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a good overview of retrospective reviews. It is directed more at someone trying to bootstrap an agile process or fix a broken one. But it can also be useful for someone looking for fresh ingredients to add to a more established situation. The suggested team exercises sometimes come across as a bit more touchy-feely than I (or my team) are comfortable with. And the cheerful tone got a bit tiresome.

On the other hand, all that is exactly what I expected in a book like this. I was able to easily scan through it in an evening, culling the applicable ideas. Now it's just a matter of determining when I can add them into the mix.

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