Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
I've read over a dozen books by Stephen King, and he has written over 50 books. This was the worst book by him that I have read. I didn't like the characters or the plot. Yuck. Grade: D-
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull
The author is one of the three founders of Pixar -- along with John Lasseter and Steve Jobs. I would describe the role of the three founders as being: John is the creative one, Steve is the financial/visionary one, and Ed is the technical one. The book begins with Ed's experiences is graduate school in Utah, and it continues through to today when Pixar is part of Disney and Lasseter and Catmull lead the animation division. I found the book incredibly interesting. Ed talks about all the different lessons he's learned and strategies they've developed. I think that almost anyone could learn something from this book, but people that work in research -- at the intersection of knowledge and creativity -- would probably benefit the most. Great book. Grade: A-
The Cost of Cutting by Paul A Ruggieri
This book is focused on surgery, hence the reference to 'cutting' in the title, and economics. Some parts of the book were interesting, especially the chapters on the increasing role of hospitals in healthcare, the decline of surgeons in private practice, and the use of robots in surgery. However, I was frustrated that the most fundamental of questions seemed to go unanswered. Specifically, given that (1) healthcare costs in the US have increased at an incredible rate for the last couple decades and (2) the author repeated complains about the reduction in payments to surgeons, where is the money going?? The book lists the salary's of doctors as typically being $220,000 to well over $500,000 per year, so maybe (2) isn't such a big deal, but he never gives a clear answer to this apparent paradox. He hints that hospitals and medical device companies are the villains, but he never says it clearly. I was disappointed. Grade: C+
