Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink My rating: 5 of 5 stars A few days ago I tweeted, How bad would it be for me to anonymously leave a copy of @DanielPink ‘s book Drive on the desk of every exec[utive] at work? First, I actually think every person…
Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh My rating: 4 of 5 stars This one falls along the lines of the Elegant Universe as a history of science. Going back to Greek philosophers and moving through developments in understanding the Universe, Singh explains the findings and the contemporary reactions. And also how…
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple My rating: 4 of 5 stars The format is a form I enjoy: A collection of emails, letters, and notes. They form the clues as to why Bernadette disappeared. Microsoft corporate culture and its effect on Seattle prominently features in the story. Work recently gave us little glass…
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe My rating: 5 of 5 stars No idea why it took me so long to get around to reading this. It felt good to read something that portrayed slavery in the United States where the slaves were both treated as property and subhuman. Books like Gone With the Wind treat…
The Painted Bird by Jerzy KosiÅ„ski My rating: 4 of 5 stars I chose to read this book for Banned Books Week 2013. A quote from that September 14th blog post: In tenth grade, this book was assigned to us. It was the most difficult book I had read to that point, but it was…
Dorothy And the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was more a series of short stories from starting point of Dorothy acquiring new friends, the Wizard, and a series of unfortunate events. They travel from realm to realm encountering strange peoples. Definitely a Baum book. My favorite…
The Crippled God by Steven Erikson My rating: 4 of 5 stars For a couple years a coworker told me to read this series. I bought the first book, but it sat on the shelf as a reminder. Finally, I caved, and he gave me the rest of the series. It started off confusing and…
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Other Writings by James Weldon Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars As a mixed race man, though much darker of skin color, some people easily identify me as Black. Others have no clue and try to figure it out with, “Where are you from?” as though no…