Brian http://the-ds.com/brian Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:28:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Review: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything http://the-ds.com/brian/2012/01/review-moonwalking-with-einstein-the-art-and-science-of-remembering-everything/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2012/01/review-moonwalking-with-einstein-the-art-and-science-of-remembering-everything/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:50:33 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=16595 Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This could have been a snoozer, but Joshua Foer actually takes an interesting historical look at memory, doesn't delve into too much silliness about Google replacing our memory, and even makes memory competitions sound more interesting than they deserve to be. Fun read for non-fiction.

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The Leopard by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another fine thriller by Nesbo. Poor Harry Hole is probably wishing he would stop writing about him by now, and this one definitely takes him to his limit and beyond.

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The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fitting end to this series. Sure, it was kind of predictable to see where it was going, but I thought it was pretty well executed, all in all.

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1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It took me a while to get through this one, it's just long. And yet, it's still Murakami at his most simple and spare. Some people might complain about the lack of resolution for the supernatural elements of the story, or the sometimes clunky language, but the most important thing was to resolve Tengo and Aomame's stories, which I ultimately thought he did quite well.

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Zone One by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's so human for a zombie book. I can't find the words to describe it well enough. Whitehead is one of my favorite authors, and he wrote a zombie book. You should probably just go read it.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-zone-one/feed/ 0 Review: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-the-magic-of-reality-how-we-know-whats-really-true/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-the-magic-of-reality-how-we-know-whats-really-true/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:43:28 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=16513 The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It amuses me that this book reads as if Richard Dawkins has given up talking to his foes as adults, and instead decided to talk to them as children. And somehow, it totally works and is probably far more effective than any of his recent books.

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ernest Cline took my childhood, threw it into a blender, turned it on high, and spit out the most awesomest book ever written. Video games, quoting Monty Python word for word, pop culture trivia: these are all important PLOT POINTS. And it works too! The whole thing is just amazing, and if you are any kind of child of the 80s, you will go read this book right now. I mean, I get all my books from the library, so I don't buy hardly any books ever. But this book is getting purchased and is going on the shelf in a place of honor.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/09/review-ready-player-one/feed/ 0 Megabus review http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/07/megabus-review/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/07/megabus-review/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:01:59 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12926 With airfares getting really high lately, and the only good fares in this area belonging to the remote outpost of BWI, I decided to try out the Megabus to get myself home from Michigan.
My father-in-law dropped me off at the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit around 11:30pm on Saturday night. The crowd there was about what you would expect: mostly minority, some clearly homeless, and a few hipster types. They were all well behaved, and there was a security guy there trying to make sure that people were actually waiting for buses and not just loitering. On the other side of the building was the Megabus stop, not the most clearly marked, but the map inside the building did show where it was. After a short wait, the bus arrived, my ticket was checked, and I hopped on with 4 other people for the trip to Pittsburgh. The ride was uneventful, though interestingly there were two drivers on the bus. I guess they staff with two during the red eye runs? It was somewhat annoying that the guy got on the loudspeaker and turned on the overhead lights when we stopped at a rest area, but otherwise it was a quick trip, even for me and my utter inability to sleep on buses/planes/etc.
Once in Pittsburgh, I had a little over an hour to kill before the next bus, so I set off in search of food. FYI, not much open at 6am on Sunday in downtown Pittsburgh! But, I did eventually find a McDonald's that had just opened and grabbed breakfast.
The Megabus reps were helping out at the Pittsburgh bus stop, getting people in the correct line for their destination. Once the bus arrived, it was smooth loading, and fairly full this time, with only one or two empty seats for the trip to DC. The actual ride was fine as well, except that the rest stops seemed excessively long, especially the 25 minute one in Frederick, a mere hour from our final destination anyway!
In DC, the Megabus lot had clearly marked signs for each line, and they even had tents up to shield waiting patrons from the hot sun. I hopped off the bus and took a quick walk to the Metro, and got home 45 minutes later.
Overall, it was a long trip (I left Detroit at 12:15am and got to DC at 12:30pm, and got home at 1:30pm), but for about $30 one way, it may have been worth the money (and security hassle) I saved over flying. The one glitch so far is that the return trip may be even longer due to a schedule change that leaves me with a four hour layover in Pittsburgh. At least this time it will be on a Friday morning, so there should be more things actually open.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/07/megabus-review/feed/ 0 Decoded http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:45:30 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12748 DecodedDecoded by Jay-Z
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Truly fascinating and beautifully presented book. It's worth the read if only to remind yourself that rap and hip-hop songs, while often reality-based, do not necessarily reflect real life, and the performers do not necessarily share the views of their subjects. Jay-Z writes about his life coming up in the projects, escaping the doomed life of the hustler, and becoming a recording star and mogul. And the best part is the way he breaks down the lyrics of a number of his songs to explain why they aren't what they appear to be on the surface. I read to learn, and this book definitely taught me a lot.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/feed/ 0 Review: Sapphique http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-sapphique/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-sapphique/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:47:47 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12727 Sapphique (Incarceron, #2)Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finally a sequel that lives up to the original. Sapphique takes us back into the worlds of Incarceron and the Realm, to find out what happens to our friends Finn and Claudia, Keiro and Attia. Poor Attia gets neglected a bit near the end, but the other characters all find some sense of closure, at least. Lots of magical fantasy went in to this book, and it was a lot of fun finding out how it ended.

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