I bought this book because David Sedaris books are typically well reviewed and appear on many best seller lists. It was also suppose to be funny; containing anecdotes about Sedaris' life. This book was okay, especially the second half, but I cannot recommend it in general. It just wasn't funny or interesting enough. Grade: C-
Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
I generally love anything that Michael Pollan writes, and this book is no exception. A fantastically interesting book about the 4 major categories of cooking: cooking over fire (e.g., whole hog barbecue), cooking with hot water (e.g., stew), cooking bread (yum), and fermentation (e.g., beer, pickles). I'm not a big 'food' person and I don't cook much, but I still enjoyed this book and recommend it to just about anyone. Grade: A-
Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future by John MacCormick
While I'm not a computer scientist, I do know a fair amount about the subject. This book discusses (roughly) 10 important algorithms and describes how they work. Some algorithms focus on encryption, others focus on error correction or compression. I enjoyed the book and felt like I learned some new things while reading it. I was familiar with many of the algorithms described in the book, and that probably dampened my enthusiasm some, but I may not be the target audience. Grade: B-
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
I read this because I saw that the movie was coming out soon. I haven't read too much science fiction before (although this is already my second science fiction book this year), but I absolutely loved this book. It was one of those books that I couldn't stop thinking about even when I wasn't reading it. When I stopped reading, I'd have to remind myself that I was back in the real world. The story was a little disturbing since it focused on the manipulation of a gifted, preadolescent kid, but it made me think... a lot. I would describe it as a "gripping story." Grade: A-
