Reading June
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It’s non-fiction. It’s a summary of a lifetime’s research by a Nobel Prize winner. Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Slow and Fast” is a great book. Everyone should read it. It attempts to explain the cognitive illusions humans suffer. Our eyes & vision are almost miraculous. However, there are examples where we still one line shorter than another even though they are the same length. Or we see things moving when their still.
This books tries to show the same with cognitive issues. When we make some decisions, we may fall prey to mental illusions that will prevent us from making the best decision. Of course, Kahneman is right in the beginning when he says you’ll see the failures more often in others than yourself, but seeing it others is still a good start.
The Killing Floor.
As I’ve mentioned numerous times here on the LVA board, Lee Child is one of my favorite currently writing authors. The only person that challenges his books for my top affection is John Sandford. If I didn’t like Lee Child’s writer or his main protagonist, Jack Reacher, so much, I probably wouldn’t have like this book.
The Killing Floor takes place in Reacher’s past. This is the second book that dives into Reacher’s backstory. Pretty quickly, the plot involves a significant coincidence that would be hard to swallow if not for some careful suggestions and the willingness to suspend disbelief. There’s a plenty of action, some of it very violent. One silly scene where Reacher hunts down a guy on the run where Reacher makes way too many logical leaps and lands perfectly. And one big “surprise” element that Reacher figures out but had stumped experts. It’s a ridiculous idea because the issue they’re talking about is well known that industry (counterfeiting) and even has a very specific name. Made me wonder if Child didn’t do enough research on the subject.
This is the weakest Reacher book I’ve read, but I still enjoyed it a great deal.
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
This book is written by a non-fiction author who I’ve been following for years since he wrote a book about “big secrets”. This book is about the interview questions major firms, with Google featured, ask prospective employees. Some of the questions are mathematical. Some are logical. Some involve processes. Some involve your ability to think creatively to solve a problem. One of my favorite questions: if you were hired to wash all the windows in Seattle, how much would you charge and why? I did pretty well on that question except I didn’t think about car windows. Only buildings. One bit of pride: one found a mistake in one answer. Contacted the author to see if I was right (about the book’s answer being incorrect) and heard back from William Poundstone (relative of Paula Poundstone). If you like tough questions that you have to try to answer on the spot, it’s an entertaining read.
Blue Heaven
“Blue Heaven” is the first book I’ve read by C.J.Box. I picked this book because it had won a major award for mysteries. I’m sort of split on the book. There are good reasons why it won the award. It’s well crafted with nice collection of characters. The author shows a strong command writer’s tricks. For example, he’ll have a scene where the villains are hunting for some kids and closing in. He’ll cut away from the scene to the person who will rescue them and have that person get caught up in little time obstacles so suspense is created. Early on I was bugged by a couple of minor things: characters who were too stock (but some are well drawn) or dialog that was pure exposition of backstory of one character. The reason I’m split: too much of the book did seem like the skilled writer working his craft. I’m most impressed when the writer disappears and I’m left with the story and the characters. Still, the writing was skillful. I’ll read another by Box.
The Ivory Grin
Every once in a while, I pull out a classic. Reading Ross MacDonald once again reminded me why I think he’s one of the best (mystery) writers of the last century. I love his writing. The plot of this book is not great, not nearly as good as others of his (“Drowning Pool” being one of my favorites) but it is still well crafted and unflawed.
Robert Parker wrote his Masters (or Doctorate) thesis on three mystery writers: Hammett, Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. Later he felt MacDonald didn’t hold up well. I disagree. I think Hammett doesn’t stand up as well (except for The Maltese Falcon).
Reading The Ivory Grin reminds me to go back and reread MacDonald again.
Simple Genius
I happened upon David Baldacci’s early books. Enjoyable pleasure books. Action, suspense, thrills. Whereas Box’s book mentioned above started questionably for me and finished strong, Baldacci’s “Simple Genius” was the opposite. I like the book at the start and didn’t like it at the end. His characters are heroes fighting for justice. I like that part. What I don’t like is his tendency to reach into tired tricks to manipulate the emotions of the reader. For example, one character has “repressed memory” and is self-destructive until it’s eventually figured out – a subplot of the book. The secret childhood incidence that explains the quirks of the present – it’s been used for decades. Not that the past doesn’t give context to the present – Ross MacDonald uses that effectively. It’s the idea that there is one tragic watershed event that dictates the entire path of the character. Time to toss Freud and suppressed memory out with the other old garbage.
The Betrayers by Bill Pronzini
Bill Pronzini’s books are simple and old fashion. He writes mysteries and he kept the genre going between the fade out of the MacDonald’s and the rise of the women mystery writers (one of whom is Bill’s wife, Marcia Muller). Though his books don’t have the breadth of an epic by John Sandford, nor the thrill, they are still simple pleasures to read for the mystery lover.
Ten Thousand Islands by Randy Wayne White
It’s been awhile since I’ve had this many great books to read in such a short time. This is my favorite RWW / Doc Ford book (I think I’ve read about a half a dozen). I like how RWW mixes in anthropological history into his book. He borrows just a tad from a real life event (which he explains in an epilogue). There’s a psychopath – and some very serious violence. The plot details are intricate and careful – at times pushing the limit of credulity, but never too far. There’s a hurricane. I also love the interplay of Doc Ford’s science and realism juxtaposed to another character’s mysticism. The other character who is often shown to be right with his “seeing” makes a huge mistake in the book, not recognizing the psychopath – who Doc Ford identifies immediately and says so. I like that in a book. Some cards are always face-up on the table.
Finished one other book, a technical book which I will skip to save your time.
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It’s non-fiction. It’s a summary of a lifetime’s research by a Nobel Prize winner. Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Slow and Fast” is a great book. Everyone should read it. It attempts to explain the cognitive illusions humans suffer. Our eyes & vision are almost miraculous. However, there are examples where we still one line shorter than another even though they are the same length. Or we see things moving when their still.
This books tries to show the same with cognitive issues. When we make some decisions, we may fall prey to mental illusions that will prevent us from making the best decision. Of course, Kahneman is right in the beginning when he says you’ll see the failures more often in others than yourself, but seeing it others is still a good start.
The Killing Floor.
As I’ve mentioned numerous times here on the LVA board, Lee Child is one of my favorite currently writing authors. The only person that challenges his books for my top affection is John Sandford. If I didn’t like Lee Child’s writer or his main protagonist, Jack Reacher, so much, I probably wouldn’t have like this book.
The Killing Floor takes place in Reacher’s past. This is the second book that dives into Reacher’s backstory. Pretty quickly, the plot involves a significant coincidence that would be hard to swallow if not for some careful suggestions and the willingness to suspend disbelief. There’s a plenty of action, some of it very violent. One silly scene where Reacher hunts down a guy on the run where Reacher makes way too many logical leaps and lands perfectly. And one big “surprise” element that Reacher figures out but had stumped experts. It’s a ridiculous idea because the issue they’re talking about is well known that industry (counterfeiting) and even has a very specific name. Made me wonder if Child didn’t do enough research on the subject.
This is the weakest Reacher book I’ve read, but I still enjoyed it a great deal.
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
This book is written by a non-fiction author who I’ve been following for years since he wrote a book about “big secrets”. This book is about the interview questions major firms, with Google featured, ask prospective employees. Some of the questions are mathematical. Some are logical. Some involve processes. Some involve your ability to think creatively to solve a problem. One of my favorite questions: if you were hired to wash all the windows in Seattle, how much would you charge and why? I did pretty well on that question except I didn’t think about car windows. Only buildings. One bit of pride: one found a mistake in one answer. Contacted the author to see if I was right (about the book’s answer being incorrect) and heard back from William Poundstone (relative of Paula Poundstone). If you like tough questions that you have to try to answer on the spot, it’s an entertaining read.
Blue Heaven
“Blue Heaven” is the first book I’ve read by C.J.Box. I picked this book because it had won a major award for mysteries. I’m sort of split on the book. There are good reasons why it won the award. It’s well crafted with nice collection of characters. The author shows a strong command writer’s tricks. For example, he’ll have a scene where the villains are hunting for some kids and closing in. He’ll cut away from the scene to the person who will rescue them and have that person get caught up in little time obstacles so suspense is created. Early on I was bugged by a couple of minor things: characters who were too stock (but some are well drawn) or dialog that was pure exposition of backstory of one character. The reason I’m split: too much of the book did seem like the skilled writer working his craft. I’m most impressed when the writer disappears and I’m left with the story and the characters. Still, the writing was skillful. I’ll read another by Box.
The Ivory Grin
Every once in a while, I pull out a classic. Reading Ross MacDonald once again reminded me why I think he’s one of the best (mystery) writers of the last century. I love his writing. The plot of this book is not great, not nearly as good as others of his (“Drowning Pool” being one of my favorites) but it is still well crafted and unflawed.
Robert Parker wrote his Masters (or Doctorate) thesis on three mystery writers: Hammett, Chandler, and Ross MacDonald. Later he felt MacDonald didn’t hold up well. I disagree. I think Hammett doesn’t stand up as well (except for The Maltese Falcon).
Reading The Ivory Grin reminds me to go back and reread MacDonald again.
Simple Genius
I happened upon David Baldacci’s early books. Enjoyable pleasure books. Action, suspense, thrills. Whereas Box’s book mentioned above started questionably for me and finished strong, Baldacci’s “Simple Genius” was the opposite. I like the book at the start and didn’t like it at the end. His characters are heroes fighting for justice. I like that part. What I don’t like is his tendency to reach into tired tricks to manipulate the emotions of the reader. For example, one character has “repressed memory” and is self-destructive until it’s eventually figured out – a subplot of the book. The secret childhood incidence that explains the quirks of the present – it’s been used for decades. Not that the past doesn’t give context to the present – Ross MacDonald uses that effectively. It’s the idea that there is one tragic watershed event that dictates the entire path of the character. Time to toss Freud and suppressed memory out with the other old garbage.
The Betrayers by Bill Pronzini
Bill Pronzini’s books are simple and old fashion. He writes mysteries and he kept the genre going between the fade out of the MacDonald’s and the rise of the women mystery writers (one of whom is Bill’s wife, Marcia Muller). Though his books don’t have the breadth of an epic by John Sandford, nor the thrill, they are still simple pleasures to read for the mystery lover.
Ten Thousand Islands by Randy Wayne White
It’s been awhile since I’ve had this many great books to read in such a short time. This is my favorite RWW / Doc Ford book (I think I’ve read about a half a dozen). I like how RWW mixes in anthropological history into his book. He borrows just a tad from a real life event (which he explains in an epilogue). There’s a psychopath – and some very serious violence. The plot details are intricate and careful – at times pushing the limit of credulity, but never too far. There’s a hurricane. I also love the interplay of Doc Ford’s science and realism juxtaposed to another character’s mysticism. The other character who is often shown to be right with his “seeing” makes a huge mistake in the book, not recognizing the psychopath – who Doc Ford identifies immediately and says so. I like that in a book. Some cards are always face-up on the table.
Finished one other book, a technical book which I will skip to save your time.
