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Blink
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell Published: 2005 The basic premise of this book is that we should pay more attention to our initial gut reaction when making decisions, as having more information can often lead to making worse decisions, except if you haven’t spent enough time honing the particular skill and knowledge set you’re basing the decision on, because then it could lead to shooting an innocent dude 41 times. So…be careful with that. I liked this book a lot. It’s not really going to change how you make decisions, but it does provide chapter after chapter of interesting anecdotes showing both the positive and negative aspects of ‘thin slicing’ –…
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Neil Gaiman and Connie Willis
Neil Gaiman posted this on his weblog a bit ago. It’s him and Connie Willis on a panel together talking about their craft and influences. If you have any interest in writing, it’s an interesting hour.
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Superman: True Brit
Superman: True Brit by Kim Howard Johnson and John Cleese Illustrator: John Byrne Format: Original Graphic Novel TPB Published: 2004 Publisher: DC Comics What if Superman had landed in southern England and not Kansas? Well, John Cleese and Kim Howard Johnson figure he’d grow up a bit embarrassed, never quite get anything right, and gradually become a mark of shame for his parents. The entire comic is essentially a rant against the English media and tabloid journalism, which I can get behind. We follow our hero, re-imagined as Colin Clark, through childhood and university until he eventually begins to work for the English tabloids, pressured into writing false pieces about…
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A Feast for Crows
A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin Published: 2005 George R.R. Martin juggles a lot of characters in this series, in much the same way Robert Jordon did in his Wheel of Time series. The difference was that Martin knew how to pull it off. Jordon would develop a very cool storyline with one of his viewpoint characters, really suck you in, and then you wouldn’t hear from that character for ages. I specifically remember being enthralled with Perrin’s storyline, and then he wasn’t mentioned for 1200 pages. Every time I finished a chapter I was hoping the next would follow him. so it made for a frustrating and…
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Ready Player One
Ready Player One (audio) by Ernest Cline Published: 2011 Narration: Wil Wheaton The story takes place 30 years from now, in a somewhat generic dystopia. Wade Watts lives in a trailer stack with his hateful aunt. Life sucks, so he spends most of his time logged in to the OASIS – a virtual reality world that started life as a MMO game and is now used for everything from schooling to business transactions. The man who created the OASIS, James Halliday, left in his will 240 billion dollars to anyone who could find his hidden easter egg. He was obsessed with the 80s, so the easter egg hunters study all…
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Back To The Classics Challenge 2012
Sarah Reads Too Much is hosting a reading challenge next year, and I thought I’d join in and get some of those classics off my to-read pile. The challenge is to read one book that covers each of the nine categories she’s specified. Here are my tentative choices, suggestions always welcome: Any 19th Century Classic – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Any 20th Century Classic – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. I read half of this in high school and didn’t finish. While I was never a model student, I did at least enjoy the readings. This is the one book I didn’t finish, and it’s haunted…
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Irredeemable Vol. 1
Irredeemable Vol. 1 by Mark Waid Illustrated By: Peter Krause Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2009 Publisher: Boom! Studios The Plutonian, Waid’s version of Superman, spent his entire life saving the world from doers of evil, but there are always those who will rip on a hero for not being able to save everyone. People are so god damn needy sometimes. After years of snide criticism and being taken advantage of by those close to him, he decides human’s aren’t worth his time and starts laying waste. They haven’t fully covered everything that lead him down the path to villainy in this trade, which is great. It gives the story…