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I was hoping to read more this year, but I've started very slowly, with
only a few books the first half of the year. But almost all of them were
good, and only one really disappointed me. I'm not covering purely
technical books this time, maybe I'll do it next year.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KEPLC08][Countdown to zero
day]]: First book of the year, it was mentioned at lunch by a
[[https://github.com/rgs1][coworker]]. The book is about the
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet][Stuxnet]] virus: how it was
discovered; the impact; the remaining questions; etc. You'll read it
as a spy novel. The style is not great, but the story is so
unbelievable, it's hard to stop reading. Also, the author did a great
job to not be too technical, you don't need any particular background
to understand it. Now would be a good time to read it, while
following conversations about
[[https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=news&q=%2332c3&src=typd][#32c3]].
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INIJJAI][Proxima]]: Your
classic space opera. A group is send to a new planet to colonize it,
and everything goes wrong. Good read while commuting to work, and
there's some good ideas. I will read more in this series next year.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AW2OYC][Witches Abroad]]:
First Pratchett in a while! We follow a small group of witches
traveling in foreign parts of the discworld. As always, it's
hilarious. I really need to get back to the discworld universe. One
book a year is not enough!
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KWPSND4][The prince]]: My first
time reading it, and it was good! I'll admit that the content is
different from what I was expecting. It's not as "cold" or "brutal"
as I thought it would be if you put the text in its historical
context. Machiavelli is very practical in his explanations.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BU3KPQU][How to stop sucking
and be awesome instead]]: It's fun to read in commute. There's some
good advice, and it's not only for engineers / managers. I think
everybody can read it and get something from it, you don't need any
technical background to enjoy the essays.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LZWV8JO][Seveneves]]: I love
Stephenson. I'm a huge fan of the
[[http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B000FC11A6/][Cryptonomicon
trilogy]] and the
[[http://www.amazon.com/Baroque-Cycle-Quicksilver-Confusion-System-ebook/dp/B00KVIBWPI][Baroque
Cycle]]. However,
[[http://www.amazon.com/Reamde-Novel-Neal-Stephenson-ebook/dp/B004XVN0WW][Reamde]]
was kind of disappointing, and so I had high expectation for this
novel. The book is divided in two parts: for the first one, it was
like I watching
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_(film)][Gravity]], where
everything that will go wrong, will go wrong. The second part is not
as entertaining, but is still good. Despite the last part, it's still
one of my favorite read for this year. The first part is really
captivating, and you just want to know what's going to happen next.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CBCRCA][The Pentium
chronicles]]: Great book on project management. When I got the book,
I was expecting something similar to
[[http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Machine-Introduction-Microprocessors-Architecture-ebook/dp/B004OEJO0A][Inside
The Machine]]: a very technical book about the Pentium: how it works,
what were the decision taken while designing the processor, the
various challenges, etc. Although you'll find some of that in the
book, it's more about how to manage a large and risky project in a
company like Intel. Different teams want different things at
different time. Marketing want to go in different direction; how to
respond to change of schedule; how to handle frustrations in the
team, etc. I highly recommend this book to anyone in a manager
position or who want to become manager.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SCRR1A][caliban's war: book
2]]: Another typical space opera, ideal for the commute. There's a TV
show now, saw the first episode
([[https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/The_Expanse?id=qSBdK4fbIYc][it
is/was free on Google Play]]). I think I'll stick with the book for
now, and wait to hear what people are saying about the show. I'll
keep reading this serie.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IQO403K][The Three Body
Problem]]: Another book mentioned by a co-worker during lunch. It's
an interesting SF book. Not the best I've read, but entertaining.
There's also some insight on Chinese culture (the author is chinese).
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EMXBDMA][The Martian: a
novel]]: Great SF book. Fun to read, lot's of details. Engineers will
love this book. Interesting to see how he approaches problems and
solve them The book was in my "to-read" list for a while, and I
wanted to read it before seeing the movie, which I did.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009G1PHP2][Structures: or why
things don't fall]]: if, in general, you are curious, definitely take
a look at this one. I've learned some things about architecture and
why some things are the way they are. I'll definitely look at
buildings with a different yey now (especially churches / cathedrals
/ bridges). Also really good to force you to ask the question ‘why is
it that way' instead of saying ‘this is stupid'.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Trilogy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00TOZI7FM][Nexus]]:
This is a great SF series. It reminds me of
[[http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-Babies-Science-Fiction-French/dp/2070417530/][babylon
babies]], I have the same excitement reading the books. If you are
interested in AI, and what it could mean for the future of humanity,
read this book: there's a lot of interesting ideas.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder-ebook/dp/B005HG4W9W][The
soul of a new machine]]: Interesting book about a computer build by
Data General in the late 70s. There's some technical information, but
it's mostly about the people who worked on the project. The part I
really enjoyed is that the author put a great effort to put
everything in context. Like for "The Pentium Chronicles", if you are
a manager or interested in learning more about working with people, I
highly recommend this book. Also, I would not be surprised if the
authors of
[[https://play.google.com/store/tv/show/Halt_and_Catch_Fire?id=0B6GRUwiZH4][Halt
and catch fire]] got some ideas from this book :)
- [[http://www.amazon.com/Console-Wars-Nintendo-Defined-Generation-ebook/dp/B00FJ379XE][Console
wars]]: The war between Sega and Nintendo. This two companies created
amazing hardware and software in the late 80s and early 90s. Like a
lot of kids from my generation, I got interested in computers because
of video games. And so I had high expectation for this book, but
sadly it was a disappointment for me. I was expecting something more
technical, but the author almost only talk about the marketing part.
It also focus only on the U.S. market, and I was hoping to learn more
about the launch of the consoles in Japan. I can see how this would
be interesting if you are interested in the pop culture side of video
games though, but this is not my case.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TOZI7J8][Crux]]: Second volume
in the Nexus trilogy. Still entertaining, and there's some really
great quotes. I loved the action. The last volume in the series will
probably be my first novel of 2016.
- [[http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forest-Cixin-Liu-ebook/dp/B00R13OYU6][The
Dark Forest]]: Second volume in "The Three Body Problem" trilogy, and
I can't say I enjoyed this volume. There's three parts: the first two
are really not that exciting, but the last one is really good. I've
spend a lot of time questioning the actions the characters take in
the first two parts, and I don't feel like the explanations given in
the last part are satisfactory. Also, the style is still not really
good: I can't say if it's due to the translation or not (I remember
having a similar problem with some of Gibson's book in their french
version).
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