Category Archives: Book reviews

Why I will never buy a Kindle

Posted on 2010-01-31 by majid

One of my bosses got a Kindle 2 a few months ago, and was wondering how an avowed gadget lover such as myself did not have one already. I am perfectly comfortable reading books in electronic form on the small … Continue reading →

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Wittgenstein’s Poker

Posted on 2005-12-23 by majid

The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers David Edmonds, John Eidinow Harper Perennial, ISBN 0060936649, Publisher, Buy online Plato is one of the sacred cows of the philosophy establishment. Whitehead famously wrote: “The safest general characterization of the … Continue reading →

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A book signing with Steven Erikson

Posted on 2005-11-12 by majid

I reviewed the Malazan Book of the Fallen last year — it is one of the very finest Fantasy series, in my opinion. I met Steven Erikson today during a book signing at Borderlands Books in San Francisco. Sadly, there … Continue reading →

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The Algebraist

Posted on 2004-12-21 by majid

Iain M. Banks Penguin (UK), ISBN 1841492396, Author’s site, Much like the great Fredric Brown, Scottish author Iain Banks’ work straddles the worlds of science-fiction and mystery. His SF books are signed Iain M. Banks (the others drop the middle … Continue reading →

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The Malazan Book of the Fallen

Posted on 2004-10-26 by majid

Steven Erikson Bantam Press (UK), ISBN 0553812173/0765310015, 0553813110, 0553813129, 0553813137, 0593046285, Publisher, Buy online: , , , , , , , Fantasy, like Science Fiction, is a genre that gets scant respect, in spite of (and perhaps due to) its … Continue reading →

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Shutterbabe

Posted on 2004-06-25 by majid

Deborah Copaken Kogan Random House, ISBN: 0375758682  Publisher,  I picked up the hardcover edition of this book from the sale bin at Stacey’s Booksellers, as the Leica on the cover just beckoned to me. This is an autobiography by an American … Continue reading →

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Archival photography

Posted on 2003-08-07 by majid

Henry Wilhelm is a well-known authority on preserving photographs. He pretty much wrote the on the subject, and it is now downloadable for free in PDF format from his website. In a nutshell: No widespread color process is really archival, … Continue reading →

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The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

Posted on 2003-06-10 by majid

Edward Tufte Graphics Press, ISBN: 0-9613921-5-0 Publisher Edward Tufte is probably the single most influential authority on communicating complex information graphically. He pretty much wrote the book(s) on the subject in his classic series The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information … Continue reading →

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Holy War

Posted on 2003-05-09 by majid

Karen Armstrong Anchor Books (Random House), ISBN: 0385721404  Publisher,  British theologian Karen Armstrong entered a convent at seventeen to become a Catholic nun. She defrocked in 1969 (this caused a great scandal among British Catholics, many have not forgiven her to … Continue reading →

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Mountain Light

Posted on 2002-12-25 by majid

Galen Rowell Sierra Club, ISBN: 0871563673 Publisher,  Galen Rowell was a world-class mountaineer and photographer. He passed away with his wife in an airplane crash on August 11, 2002. He was a master of color landscapes and had the knack of catching … Continue reading →

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