Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & technology book reviews, plus social, political, & economic commentary
Some of the reading material inside the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, Massachusetts. It is America’s oldest lending library, founded with books donated by Benjamin Franklin in 1790. (Photo by Si Dunn) Banned Books Week is coming (again) soon. This time, it will be observed Oct. 1-7, 2023, and the theme will be “Let Freedom … Continue reading Ban Books? No, Ban Ignorance
Spear of Light The Glittering Edge, Book Two Brenda Cooper Pyr – Kindle, paperback Spear of Light is the second book in The Glittering Edge duology. And it has been my introduction to Brenda Cooper’s science-fiction writing. For the most part, I am impressed. While I missed Edge of Dark, the duology’s first book, I … Continue reading ‘Spear of Light’ – Human vs. post-human on a planet facing destruction – #scifi #bookreview
The White House and the University of the District of Columbia are two of the sites helping spotlight the National Week of Making, June 17-23, 2016. “America has always been a nation of tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs,” a White House news release recently stated. “Empowering students and adults to create, innovate, tinker, and make their … Continue reading Some Book Choices for ‘National Week of Making,’ June 17-23, 2016 – #books #WeekofMaking
See Also Deception Larry D. Sweazy Seventh Street Books As I have mentioned here before, I love mystery stories where the investigator is an ordinary citizen, not a well-trained police detective or a struggling private sleuth beaten down by drunkenness, personal demons, and too many bad cases. The investigator in See Also Deception, the second novel … Continue reading ‘See Also Deception’: A good addition to the Marjorie Trumaine mystery series #bookreview
MongoDB in Action, Second Edition Covers MongoDB version 3.0 Kyle Banker Manning, paperback Yes, this updated edition of MongoDB in Action is aimed at software developers. However, the book wisely does not ignore those of us who are more casual users of MongoDB. Indeed, this is a fine how-to book for MongoDB newcomers and casual … Continue reading Manning’s ‘MongoDB in Action’ has been updated for version 3.0 – #programming #bookreview
Rain Dogs A Detective Sean Duffy Novel Adrian McKinty Seventh Street Books – paperback, Kindle, audible Now that I have suckered you into this review with a question, I’m going to give you something of a cop-out answer: Rain Dogs is the best Sean Duffy detective story I have read…since the last Sean Duffy detective … Continue reading “Rain Dogs” – Adrian McKinty’s best Sean Duffy murder mystery? #bookreview
Spring in Action Craig Walls Manning – paperback If you have worked with the decade-old Spring framework, you know well that it has a long history of providing configuration headaches for developers. The new Spring Boot framework, on the other hand, literally brings much-needed simplification and automation to the process of using Spring. And it … Continue reading ‘Spring Boot in Action’ can help you push aside the old drudgeries of configuring Spring applications – #programming #bookreview
Clojure in Action, 2nd Edition Amit Rathore and Francis Avila Manning – paperback Clojure seems to be afflicted with a measles-like outbreak of parentheses, and it generally just looks strange to many software developers. And there’s a good reason for that, as this book’s two author point out in their recently released second edition. “Clojure’s … Continue reading Attack of the Killer Parentheses: ‘Clojure in Action, 2nd Edition’ – #bookreview
The Make: Series of How-to Books A British scientist made headlines a few years ago when she warned that young people no longer make or repair things. It has become all too easy for them now, she cautioned, to simply throw away old or broken devices and buy new ones. A key point was that … Continue reading Step away from the ‘smartphone’ and try using your hands and mind to make something – #bookreview
Make: Paper Inventions Kathy Ceceri Maker Media, Inc. – paperback Don’t just hand this book to your kids, say “Have fun,” and then go off to play with your computer. Get out the glue, scissors and paper and join in. You might enjoy seeing what happens when you (1) cut all the … Continue reading Make: Paper Inventions – A fun how-to book for kids and their adults
Books, Commentary, & More 