Book Reviews
Reviews of things I've read.•Back to Reviews Page
Revolution in the Valley • Andy Hertzfeld • 2004 • Andy Hertzfeld brings a collection of stories together into this wonderful look at how the Mac was born, with a unique sense of fun and excitement. • Loved It! 
Sir Lewis • 2025 • Michael Sawyer Look. Lewis is an actual role model, and he's also a true legend. This book was just a little too willing to bypass nuances in a couple cases and overstate its case. It did not need to do that, because Lewis' life and work speaks for itself. • Liked It 
Sleeping Giants • 2016 • Sylvain Neuvel • Mech stories are nothing new, but this is a fun twist on the genre. Would read again. • Loved It! 
Snow Crash • Neal Stephenson • 1992 • This has to be one of the classic cyberpunk novels. It's dumb AND cool, silly AND serious. It's also a fascinating look at how language controls thought and vice-versa. • Loved It! 
The Circle • 2013 • Dave Eggers I found this book very clumsily written. It could have been a very skillful skewering of the worst of tech. Instead, it made me find it all completely unrealistic and therefore useless as relevant commentary. • Didn't Like It 
The Convenience Store by the Sea • First Time Read • 2020 • Sonoko Machida • I didn't know what to think of this book initially. It felt slightly stilted, whether due to translation or not, I'm not sure. But I kept reading. And it started drawing me in by brilliantly building intertwined moments of social interactions and vignettes of character development. • Loved It! 
The Diamond Age or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer • 1995 • Neal Stephenson • Unique and engaging world-building, wonderful protagonist in Nell, and thought- provoking mix of Chinese and English Victorian cultures as the dominant societies of the future. Very original picture of the future. • Loved It! 
The Friendly Orange Glow • 2017 • Brian Dear • It's no secret I love computer history stories, and this really captures the era it covers. A must read. • Loved It! 
The Ministry for the Future • Kim Stanley Robinson • I enjoyed this book when I read it, because they captured the climate change disaster headed our way. What they didn't foresee, however, is just how insane governments all over the world would go before we even get that far. Not dystopian enough after all. • Liked It 
The Silo Series Collection • One of the best dystopian series ever written. Kind of hard to read in early 2025 though. • Loved It! 
Sir Lewis • 2025 • Michael Sawyer Look. Lewis is an actual role model, and he's also a true legend. This book was just a little too willing to bypass nuances in a couple cases and overstate its case. It did not need to do that, because Lewis' life and work speaks for itself. • Liked It 
Sleeping Giants • 2016 • Sylvain Neuvel • Mech stories are nothing new, but this is a fun twist on the genre. Would read again. • Loved It! 
Snow Crash • Neal Stephenson • 1992 • This has to be one of the classic cyberpunk novels. It's dumb AND cool, silly AND serious. It's also a fascinating look at how language controls thought and vice-versa. • Loved It! 
The Circle • 2013 • Dave Eggers I found this book very clumsily written. It could have been a very skillful skewering of the worst of tech. Instead, it made me find it all completely unrealistic and therefore useless as relevant commentary. • Didn't Like It 
The Convenience Store by the Sea • First Time Read • 2020 • Sonoko Machida • I didn't know what to think of this book initially. It felt slightly stilted, whether due to translation or not, I'm not sure. But I kept reading. And it started drawing me in by brilliantly building intertwined moments of social interactions and vignettes of character development. • Loved It! 
The Diamond Age or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer • 1995 • Neal Stephenson • Unique and engaging world-building, wonderful protagonist in Nell, and thought- provoking mix of Chinese and English Victorian cultures as the dominant societies of the future. Very original picture of the future. • Loved It! 
The Friendly Orange Glow • 2017 • Brian Dear • It's no secret I love computer history stories, and this really captures the era it covers. A must read. • Loved It! 
The Ministry for the Future • Kim Stanley Robinson • I enjoyed this book when I read it, because they captured the climate change disaster headed our way. What they didn't foresee, however, is just how insane governments all over the world would go before we even get that far. Not dystopian enough after all. • Liked It 
The Silo Series Collection • One of the best dystopian series ever written. Kind of hard to read in early 2025 though. • Loved It! 