Sunday, September 14, 2008

Reading stack

Since at least a few of my readers are people I know from reading forums like Readerville and BookBalloon, I thought I'd share what I've read recently, am currently reading, and what's in my towering to-read stack.

Recent reads include:

James Alan Gardner's Expendable (Amazon link).
A nice piece of science fiction about some members of the space exploration force, who are used to explore new planets, since they are considered expendable. Well worth reading if you are into science fiction.

Gleen Greenwald's Great American Hypocrites
I might make a longer review of this book, but generally I was slightly disappointed by it, though I still feel it should be required reading for journalists.

Lauri Lebo's The Devil in Dover
One of several books on the Kitzmiller vs. Dover trial, but the only one written by a local. Lebo was one of the journalists covering the trial, and the book not only describes the trial, but also tells of Lebo's own discovery of the issues at hand.
I am working on a general book review of the books about the trial, so I will write more about it then.

Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams
One of the classic books on how to get IT projects to work. A bit too America-centric at times, it's still a book that I would recommend to anyone who might have to lead, or even just work in, an IT project.

I'm currently reading:

Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan
Lend to me by one of my co-workers, as he thought it was just up my alley. And it should be - in general I find this kind of books interesting, and I certainly agree with his core message. I just don't like the way he is selling it. Still, I'm working my way through it, and it's certainly giving me food for thought.

Gang of four: Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
Well, naturally the book's author is not written as "gang of four" on the frontpage of the book, but that's how they are known in the computer business. I've read this book before, but am re-reading it as part of the design pattern study group I've started at my work.

David Neiwert's Strawberry Days
David writes really well, and the story about the internment of the Japanese during WWII is a powerful story. The only reason I haven't gotten it finished yet, is because I keep getting distracted by other books.

Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D: A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell
I've only included this in the list to warn people from spending money or time on it. In my opinion, it's badly written, and what's worse, the advice it gives is worthless.

My to-read stack:

Christoher Wanjek: Bad Medicine
Steve McConnell: Software Estimation - Demystifying the Black Art
James Surowiecki: The Wisdom of Crowds
Darrell Huff: How to Lie with Statistics
Robert Park: Vooddo Science - The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
Jon Krakauer: Under the Banner of Heaven - A Story of Violent Faith
Daniel Levitas: The Terrorist Next Door - the Militia Movement and the Radical Right
Edward Yourdon: Death March

Comments about my reads and book suggestions are of course always welcome.

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