Booklog: March

3 April 2006 at 10.52 • in Books

I read a lot last month–not just the books below, but also the first two volumes of Gene Wolfe’s Book of the Short Sun. But I’ll hold off on writing about those till I finish the third volume.

Fiction
Neverwhere — Neil Gaiman
Gaiman’s first solo novel, based on the BBC miniseries he created and wrote. An entertaining, relaxing book to reread; Gaiman’s light tone leavens a dark story.
Nonfiction
The Way of Chuang Tzu — Thomas Merton
Ancient Taoist writings rendered by a modern Catholic monk–an unexpected combination that really works, especially in the anecdotes of Chuang Tzu’s life.
Soul Proprietor — Jane Pollak
Another book on lifestyle entrepreneurship. The “101 lessons” format is a little forced, but Pollak makes up for it by telling an abundance of good stories.
Speak What We Feel — Frederick Buechner
A deeply thoughtful look at the lives of four great writers, and how the darknesses they faced were reflected in their work. As soon as I saw the writers Buechner chose–Shakespeare, Twain, Chesterton, and Gerard Manley Hopkins–I knew I had to read this.
A Whack on the Side of the Head — Roger von Oech
A classic creativity book that’s been on my read-that-someday list for years. I’m glad I finally read it: few books are both fun and thought-provoking, and this is one of them.
More Ready Than You Realize — Brian McLaren
McLaren tries to reclaim evangelism from its modern distortion into arm-twisting salesmanship. Not a lot here that I haven’t seen elsewhere, but it’s well-presented.
Universal Principles of Design — Lidwell, Holden, & Butler
I tracked this down after reading Don Norman’s glowing review. He’s right, it’s good.
Designing Interfaces — Jenifer Tidwell
A catalog of interface design patterns for software, general enough to apply to both desktop apps and web apps, but specific enough to give useful guidance.

Booklog: February

1 March 2006 at 13.42 • in Books
Fiction
Busman’s Honeymoon — Dorothy Sayers
The last Lord Peter novel; my only disappointment is that I don’t have more of them left to read. The mystery itself is downplayed in favor of character relationships, but Sayers again makes it work.
Lord Peter — Dorothy Sayers
A collection of all the Lord Peter short stories. I’d read most of them before, but saved the last two (involving Harriet and the Wimsey children) till now.
Nonfiction
The Last Word and the Word After That — Brian McLaren
McLaren concludes his trilogy of fictionalized dialogues (that started with A New Kind of Christian) with thought-provoking ruminations on hell.
Take and Read — Eugene Peterson
An annotated bibliography of Eugene Peterson’s favorite books. As you might expect, most if not all of his picks have a theological angle.
Purple Cow — Seth Godin
I kept hearing kudos for Seth Godin’s books on marketing, so I finally read one. I liked it: it’s rare to find a business writer with writing ability and something to say.

Booklog: January

9 February 2006 at 12.26 • in Books
Fiction
Gaudy Night — Dorothy Sayers
Harriet Vane is back after a few novels of absence, and gets a mystery to solve (mostly) on her own. A many-layered story where the mystery is good, but the subplots are even better.
To Say Nothing of the Dog — Connie Willis
One of my favorite novels; it’s Connie Willis at her funniest. I picked the perfect time to reread it: now I understand the Gaudy Night references.
Man in White — Johnny Cash
An historical novel about Paul the apostle, written by Johnny Cash? I was too intrigued to pass that up. He certainly did his history homework, but the writing itself is clunky.
Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren’t as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn’t Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out
A fun collection of children’s stories from people like Neil Gaiman and Nick Hornby; also known as The Book With the Really Long Title.
Other
Shaping Things — Bruce Sterling
Sterling crams futurism, design, and sustainability into a short book. A longer book would have been more interesting; as it is, too many ideas are tossed out, then glossed over. Still worth reading, though.
Storyteller — Kate Wilhelm
Writing advice mixed with tales of the Clarion writers’ workshop.
The Little Flowers of St. Francis — Raphael Brown (translator)
Reading this for the second time, I was struck by how truly different the medieval Christian worldview was, in both good ways and bad. The emphasis on penance and mortification seems deranged, yet some parts of the book are full of insight.
Drive a Modest Car — Ralph Warner
The founder of Nolo Press gives his advice on starting and running a small business. It’s well-written, and contains a good selection of fictional and real-life examples. I’ll probably buy a copy.

Booklog: December

13 January 2006 at 18.30 • in Books

I’m going to start posting a monthly rundown of the books I’m reading. It won’t be as software-centric as the rest of my blog, but since it’s only once a month, it should be easy to skip if you’re not interested. Here’s what I read in December:

Geekery
Programming Pearls — Jon Bentley
More Programming Pearls — Jon Bentley
A couple of old favorites I hadn’t read in a while—I needed to be reminded of some practical programming wisdom as I turned to the task of building Trifle as a shippable app.
The Pragmatic Programmer — Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
Rereading this along with Bentley’s Pearls, I found a lot of overlap. Further evidence that computers change fast, but good programming practice doesn’t.
Small Pieces Loosely Joined — David Weinberger
Finally got around to reading this. Much of it seems obvious, but it is written for a general audience, so Weinberger can’t assume much from the reader. Also, the obvious bits were probably a good deal less obvious four years ago when it was written. Despite all that, it did make me stop and think.
Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X — Aaron Hillegass
The Mac application programming book. This was my first time with the second edition; Hillegass took an already-good book and improved it. If you want to write applications on the Mac, this is the book you need.
Fiction
Litany of the Long Sun — Gene Wolfe
Epiphany of the Long Sun — Gene Wolfe
The Book of the Long Sun was originally published as four novels; this edition collects them into two volumes, with two novels in each. (I actually read Litany in November—I’m not that fast a reader.) Gene Wolfe continues to amaze and delight. Here he tells the story of a young priest in charge of a small run-down temple who gets commissioned by a mysterious minor god to save that temple. Of course, there’s far more going on than is immediately apparent; Wolfe uncovers it masterfully over the four-book span.

Descent into Hell — Charles Williams
Yes, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were better writers; still, their pal Charles Williams wrote some fascinating metaphysical fantasies. Descent into Hell isn’t as dark as it sounds—there’s also an ascent into heaven going on. Williams sidesteps tired metaphors by rendering it all as a contemporary fantasy. (Well, contemporary for 1937, anyway.)
Other
Invitation to a Journey — M. Robert Mulholland Jr.
A short introduction to spiritual formation that focuses on mindset and approach. Nicely complements the theological emphasis of The Spirit of the Disciplines and the practical focus of Celebration of Discipline.
Not Just a Living — Mark Henricks
A book on “creating a business that gives you a life”, intended as an antidote to the idea that entrepreneurship is all about working long hours and giving up your life in the hopes of making a lot of money. Best part: the stories of individual business owners.