Two Stars
A bit niche, perhaps
Books

This book is somewhat famous in software circles as a shining example of documenting best practices. It’s definitely interesting to skim through, but unless you’re an urban planner or something it’s not a particularly great read as it’s just a huge list of best practices for physical spaces.




I haven’t played the games or watched the show, but the books are enjoyable enough if you like the genre.




I know a lot of people that love this 10-book series, but I wasn’t a fan of the first, though the second was better

There were a few interesting parts here, but ultimately this book less about AI and more about philosophy/the meaning of life. Not my cup of tea, I preferred Superintelligence.




The evolution and biology of a vastly different form of life living on a neutron star. Some interesting ideas, but should have been half the length. Written in the 80s and showing it’s age.

Like a lot of highly-influential books, ends up feeling dated and overhyped because it’s innovative ideas have been copied and improved upon by others.

Stephenson’s books always take a while to get going, and this is just Book 1 so still too early to really judge

There is very little new here if you’ve read Guns, Germs, and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee, both of which I recommend over this

Zen advice on the creative process, can dip in and out of the book depending on where you are in a project. I wish he’d used specific examples from his work, but the book is probably already a bit longer than it could be anyway.

Like many of these types of books, a bit padded to get to book length. Kondo comes off as quite a bit kooky, but the general intention and advice is good and can inspire some good habits.

A bit too cutesy for my taste, but came highly recommended so might still read the others in the series.

Heard a lot of hype about Emily Wilson’s modern translation, so decided to give it a shot. I found the preface and initial notes to be fairly interesting, and the translation is definitely more readable than what I remember in high school. However, finishing this ended up being a bit of a slog for me.