Control Group ([info]control_group) wrote,
@ 2005-12-28 10:53:00
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"Further updates, as not actually promised" -or- "Even though you didn't care last time..."
Hrmph.

I seem to have been premature with my earlier post regarding books I've read this year. While I expected to read a couple more books between then and the actual end of the year, I didn't expect it to be more than one or two. I was wrong. So here's an update to the list:

The first timers

    Baroque Cycle
    1. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson
    2. The Confusion - Neal Stephenson
  • Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation - Lynn Truss
  • Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side Of Everything* - Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

The rereads

    Symphony Of Ages
    1. Prophecy - Elizabeth Haydon

*Actually, I haven't yet read the epilogue to this one, but I expect to before the week is out, so it counts.


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[info]_guy_incognito
2005-12-28 04:57 pm UTC (link)
How was Freakonomics? I sounds sweet.

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[info]assfingers
2005-12-28 05:00 pm UTC (link)
This was the only book on his list that he recommended to me.

Based on our conversation(s), though, it appears to be about Kirk Douglas so I'll probably pass.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]control_group
2005-12-28 05:23 pm UTC (link)
It's fascinating, actually. This guy just addresses apparently random questions, and tries to answer them by applying economics-like analysis to relevant data sets. By apparently random, I mean stuff like "how are teachers like sumo wrestlers," and "what caused the dramatic decrease in US crime over the 1990s," and "does naming a child DeShawn hurt his chances to succed in life?"

Fairly short and easy to read, too.

I stamp it:

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[info]ohsochewy
2005-12-28 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Freakonomics is, like, my husband's favorite book evarr. I hope you enjoyed it.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]control_group
2005-12-28 05:25 pm UTC (link)
I did indeed.

Fascinating stuff, though I imagine he's got to take an awful lot of flack from both sides of pretty much every issue he discusses (particularly abortion and guns).

No one wants to hear analysis grounded in fact when they can go with emotional appeal.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
grumble
[info]comkilserv
2005-12-28 05:19 pm UTC (link)
state of fear

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: grumble
[info]control_group
2005-12-28 05:24 pm UTC (link)
IT'S ON THE LIST

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: grumble
[info]comkilserv
2005-12-28 05:31 pm UTC (link)
it isn't a whole soup

it's just a base

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: grumble
[info]control_group
2005-12-28 05:32 pm UTC (link)
Listen, Sergeant...Pepper, I'll read the book when it's turn in the rotation comes up.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: grumble
[info]control_group
2005-12-28 05:33 pm UTC (link)

GAH SHITBALLS DAMMIT &c

-'

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]angrybunnyman
2005-12-28 06:57 pm UTC (link)
I blame sumo wrestlers for all our educational woes....

(Reply to this)


[info]bzoppa
2005-12-28 07:12 pm UTC (link)
Sadly enough, I memory'd the last post for book suggestions.

How many of the Honor Harrington books do you have electronically? Or, how many can I get from you? baen.com/library only has the first two.

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[info]control_group
2005-12-28 08:25 pm UTC (link)

I wouldn't call that sad; I do the same thing every time I see a discussion topic on SF/F books crop up online somewhere. Bear in mind, though, that I don't necessarily recommend the books on that list, I just read them. That being said, I don't recall there being any real stinkers in the bunch (though Lucifer's Hammer was a bit "meh").

Anyway, good question.

Since I own all the HH books in paper format, I can't guarantee much of anything. I know I bought a couple from Baen's eBook site so I could read them before the bound copy came out, but I don't recall which ones.

I also know where I might be able to pick up a few more of them. I'll try to remember to look tonight.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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