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The Dark Forest

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 10:22 on 22 June 2017

Book 2 of the Remembrance of Earth's Past series.

Okay, book two of the series, this book was not like the previous book. The previous book was a nominally self-contained book with some crazy, but ultimately believable, advanced technology. This book sorta veers sideways into, ummmmm, okay, yes, I guess, more of the person side of things.

In Chapter 41, there's a part where a bunch of military guys, full of confidence on how they are going to crush their enemy, start jockeying for position on who will attack first and where everyone else will be, because at this point, it is all about their place in military history. The fleet is then promptly and completely destroyed. The descriptions of the jockeying reminded me of the war games that the US played in the Mediterranean a decade and a half ago (found it, the Millennium Challenge 2002), where "oh, you must follow this script" instead of learning from the non-conventional war tactics that the underdog could and absolutely would use, were dismissed. Like a combatant would follow a script. Uh... no.

That said, still a good book, still a good series, still a, oh boy, satisfying read. Going to read the next one, most definitely.

It felt no sense of towering above its surroundings, because it had no fear of falling. It had been blown off of places higher than this many times without any injury. Without the fear of heights, there can be no appreciation for the beauty of high places.
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The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Book Notes kitt decided around 21:09 on 19 June 2016 to publish this:

Yeah, as much as I think the author could be considered certifiably insane based on her obsession with tidying up, I will say that this is the book that can seriously help to declutter a life, if the reader is willing.

Willing. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. This is a good book for decluttering, purging when one is ready.

The book gives you permission to let go. It gives you permission to give away items you don't use. It gives you permission to THROW AWAY items you don't use or want.

The book cautions the reader not to dispose of items by burdening someone else with the items. Don't give your sibling something from your parents if neither of you want said something, for example.

The two biggest take-aways for me were 1. don't keep it if it doesn't spark joy, and 2. once you've read what is on a paper, it has done its job, you can toss it.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to purge. Hoarders will need more than just this book. Not-yet-a-hoarder will benefit.

The Martian

Book Notes Written with a loving hand by kitt some time around 21:13 on 4 January 2016

"I failed to appreciate just how closely Weir's humour matches yours."

Okay, I really don't know how, after a number of really good friends all tell me "You would really enjoy this book," I hadn't read the book yet. Maybe because it was near the bottom of the stack? Maybe because the recommendations came during a really sad, really emotional time of my life? Maybe because I had another fourteen books already in progress?

I don't know. Let's just go with girls are dumb and chalk it up to experience.

This book is fantastic.

I laughed out loud. I didn't roll my eyes at any of the science, though, to be honest, I was predisposed not to roll my eyes after reading many reports about how Weir researched everything to make sure what he wrote was plausible. I read the book slowly because I wanted to savour just how much I was enjoying it. And I was enjoying it. I very rarely read books as slowly as I did with this one.

Did I mention the laughing part? Weir's humour is so close to my humour as to be indistinguishable, I'd say. I can't believe this was a first novel.

Loved it. Highly recommend it. Will be reading it again. Worth all the hype is it getting. Glad I have it in hardback (will have to buy another copy to loan out, this one is staying with me).

Police

Book Notes Instead of being asleep at 22:59 on 19 November 2015, kitt created this:

Okay, this is the latest book (that would be book 10) in the Harry Hole series. Based on the ending, I feel this should be the last book in the series. I'm not the author, and I understand the lure of keeping a franchise alive, yet this one feels like a great place to end the series.

True to Nesbo's style of writing the Hole series (ha, I crack me up), there are a lot of twists and turns and deliberate wording causing misdirections. I was confused a bit with some of the characters, but figured them all out in the end. Unsurprising, this book was about THE POLICE, and had a large bit of house-cleaning in it (another reason why this could be the last book: a lot of the different plotlines are wrapped up, cleaned up, and squared away).

I really liked how a number of details from previous books wrap back around in this book. The details are still details, not major plot points. They are subtle enough to make this book stand on its own (without the Dresden repeating of everything), but stand out if you've read the previous book recently (like finished it about an hour before starting this one).

So, with this one, I've read five of the Harry Hole books. Given I've read the last three, and know much of the plot points of the previous ones from details gleaned from those last three books, I'm likely going to skip the rest of the Hole books.

Despite my luke-warm first book review, I have to say that I now recommend this series.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Book Notes Yeah, kitt finished writing this at 22:03 on 23 August 2015

I found this book on the list from https://medium.com/@Hipstercrite/book-recommendations-for-smart-ladies-who-like-smart-ladies-82d365d9bc28 Having recently read Being Mortal, having recently had to accept the frailty of old age as I watch the grandparents and parents age, and having recently noticed just ALL THE GREY HAIR I've had (really, I've had it for a while, shaving my head rather brought them out), reading this book didn't seem too far out of the current progression.

I am glad I did.

I highly recommend this book. All my family members are getting this book, possibly others. I might buy many copies of this book for the library at work, I think it's that great of a great book.

The book's description includes the paragraph:

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures."

How to Transform Your Ideas into Software Products

Book Notes kitt decided around 15:44 on 23 June 2015 to publish this:

This is my review of the book for work:

Finished reading How to Transform Your Ideas into Software Products - it was a Shopify Montreal library book, and, I think, a great choice. I read it in about 3 days on the bus rides into work, so it's a quick read. It's a guidebook on how to build software from validating an idea before writing software, through user personas and stories, designing workflows with paper, prototyping guidelines, basic marketing strategies and metrics. The typography and copy-editing needs work; the book has no ISBN [edit: the copy I have doesn't, but the book does: 978-1-4951-4124-9], and is available at http://femgineer.com/transform-ideas/ and Amazon.

Okay, that's the blurb of it. The opinion of it: if you already know all of this information, if you already write code and know about full product life-cycles, then, sure, all you're going to get out of this book is how much it needed a copy-editor before publishing.

However, it is the PERFECT book to hand to someone who doesn't write software or is new to software development, and wants to take an idea through to project launch and growth. It's a great roadmap: it's not deep in any area, but points the reader in the right direction.

My new plan for people who approach me at conferences with ideas they want to build is now recommend this book and suggest they do the exercises through chapter 7, then come back and we'll talk.

I recommend this book for software people as a blueprint, it's an easy read and eye-opening to all the things you already know but everyone else doesn't. For non-software people, this is the perfect blueprint for building a software product.

Ignore the typos and the "you've gottas."

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