Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

In which we learn about how simple nudges could help us make better decisions.

Nudge is about how people make less than optimal choices, as determined by themselves or by other standards. We eat more than we know we should, work out and save less, yet it's hard for most of us to do what we know we should. Nudge is about how we (or in some cases some third party) can cause better choices to be made in simple ways.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I bought and started this book the first day it was available, and was initially overwhelmed by its massive 1,000 page size. Seriously, this is the best argument in favor of eReaders I am aware of. In the interest of full disclosure and complete honesty, I should say that I was predisposed to dislike this book because it took up Brandon Sanderson's time which would be better spent finishing Wheel of Time! Ok, I am just kidding. Mostly.


I really didn't enjoy Way of Kings much until about 1/2 of the way through. It really is super ambitious and I think there is just way too much setting for one book. There were too many elements of the setting's past/mythology/ecology that I really failed to understand. So many pages were devoted to obscure discussions about the setting's ancient history. I finished the book with only a slightly better understanding of the setting than I had initially. Heralds? Crem? Radiants? Spren? Voidbringers? Soulcasters? Symbol-heads? Dawnshards? I seriously don't really understand what anything in the setting *is* or how it is relevant. Really frustrating. There may be like five magic systems, or one. I really don't know. It's very eclectic and I feel like nothing in the setting fits together. I guess Sanderson saved that for the other books in the series? It would have been ok if the setting were confusing and not fully described, but background took up a ton of the book and I *still* don't get it! I wish Sanderson had reduced the scope of the setting and made the book about half as long.

My take on all of Sanderson's other books is that they have really cool, graspable magic systems and races, at the expense of characters that the reader cares about. This was just the opposite. Way of Kings had, in my opinion, a confusing setting and meaningless magic system(s) but really, really great characters. I immediately found myself cheering for Shallan and Kaladin especially. They were deep and likable and had excellent stories, minus the crap I didn't understand... I found myself reading the last chunk of the book way past my bedtime last night because I had to know how it all ended. The last half of the book was riveting and enjoyable, really cool stories.

All in all, the Way of Kings makes me feel like Sanderson is a less experienced author than I had previously imagined. This book seems maybe too ambitious. I wish he had stuck to Wheel of Time for a few more years, maybe some simpler stories, and waited to write this book when he had the experience to better tame his imagination and the setting. It's just too much for one planet/book. The characters and story are strong, but made into an almost unsurmountable book by the vast amounts of confusing history and magic.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

Brisingr is the third book in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series. It is a young adult fantasy series, very much with the hero's journey type of plot. When I was about 16, totally caught up in Lord of the Rings mania, the first book in the series (Eragon) was pretty much the coolest thing I had ever read. I stumbled upon it when it was still self-published and not remarkably popular and I was crazy about it.


Now, I see why people who are more well-read and critical than I was at 16 did not embrace Paolini's story like I did then. This and the second book of the series, Eldest, did not entertain me much. It's probably worth reading if you liked the first book and don't mind his writing style but I definitely don't recommend going out of your way to read these books.

Paolini's story is somewhat derivative. I feel like most fantasy stories, particularly more traditional ones with elves and dragons and epic journeys are all derivative and tell the same types of stories, so the derivativeness of Inheritance doesn't really stand out. Everything in that genre sort of feels like Lord of the Rings to some extent. There just isn't much in the Inheritance story to set it apart for me now. I think I liked it so much when I was 16 because it was perfect escapist fantasy for me at the time. I was very engaged by the characters, really wanted to have a dragon and bang Murtagh. Now I like to think my tastes have matured.

The one thing that does set Paolini's writing apart is, unfortunately, his writing. It pretty much sounds like a thesaurus exploded all over the pages. It's really, really ridiculous. He uses the most pretentious, obscure words for no apparent reason. Don't get me wrong, I love my pretentious vocabulary, but I do not approve of using uncommon words that are less relevant that common words! His writing is incredibly awkward, and the dialog is really painful.

I sort of want to read Eragon again and see if I still like it at all. Maybe when I am really depressed and lonely so I get the full 15 year old experience. We'll see.

What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman

Oh Richard Feynman, the patron saint of scientists, engineers and nerds everywhere. Richard Feynman was a Manhattan project physicist during WWII, and later went on to teach and popularize physics. He was a weird, engaging character whose writing is some of the best on physics topics. What Do You Care What Other People Think? is random memoirs, written casually and charmingly along with a look at the Challenger space shuttle disaster.


If you are looking to read a biography of Feynman, or about his work on the Manhattan project this is not the right book. It is also not about science, in general, and won't teach you anything about physics. This book contains several shortish anecdotes Feynman recalls from his childhood on. They really are fairly random, and sort of highlight how Feynman thought and how much he thought of himself. Not that that is a bad thing when you are Richard Feynman!

Almost half the book is devoted to Feynman's role in a commission looking into the space shuttle Challenger disaster, which occurred 11 days after I was born, in January 1986. Feynman worked on the commission, was sort of a loose cannon as far as the commission's work went, and ended up writing his own little report on the disaster.

For me the most interesting (and depressing) part of this book was the ineptitude of NASA Feynman highlights in his Challenger section of the book. According to his research and interviews, NASA's engineers and astronauts were amazing, dedicated individuals whose insight into problems the shuttles may have been having was squashed, discouraged and hidden by NASA's management. Really depressing. I have no idea how contemporary NASA compares to late 1980s NASA, but I seriously hope that they took Feynman's words to heart and shaped up.

In summary, this book is equally divided into two halves containing charming anecdotes about how awesome Richard Feynman was and Feynman's analysis of the Challenger disaster. If you are interested in physics, NASA, or Feynman specifically this is a book you will probably enjoy. Otherwise, maybe not so relevant.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I solemnly swear to never read a book again just because it is popular. OK, seriously. I utterly fail to see why people like this book. There are much better mysteries around. Unless people really like reading about sadism, torture and rape (in between incredibly long and dry stretches of the actual mystery's story, of course) I don't understand why this book is so popular. I am including spoilers in this review, so if I can't talk you out of reading this book you might not want to read further.


I read this book mostly because everyone seemed to be reading it and its sequels. I was also slightly intrigued because not once but twice, when I told people about my job, they said it sounded like what Lisbeth Salander does in this book. My job is not remotely related to hacking or private investigation so I have no idea how people get that, and it makes me think I must do a remarkably poor job explaining what I do for a living!

So this book was not at all what I expected it to be. I don't know what I was expecting but I was very disappointed. At first, reading this book, I was like ok, it's a mystery. I used to read mysteries I sort of like these patterns and tropes. Then, I was like wow. Nothing is happening. Something should probably be happening in this book by now. Then I was like jesus fucking christ why would anyone write a scene like that? How can I get these horrible descriptions of assault, sadism and rape out of my brain? Then, it was back to boringness in between a few scenes that I wish I could scourge from my mind.

OK, I'll admit. I am sheltered and sensitive. I cannot stand watching movies or television, or reading books that include much sexual violence, or animal cruelty. Those are two things I really go out of my way to avoid and I was not happy to be surprised with both of those things in this book. I literally got dizzy and nauseous from reading scenes in this book. I knew I was a little sensitive, but to be so disturbed and sickened by a book that is so incredibly popular was unexpected and it has really diminished my opinion of humanity. What really pissed me off was that after finishing the book I realized that the scene that upset me so much was totally unrelated to the plot. That scene could have never happened and nothing about the main plot would have changed. Apparently Larsson knows his audience though, because the teaser for book two at the end of this book was all about bondage, rape and child abuse. It was not subtle. Guess what books I won't be buying?

On to problems other than the grotesque, vivid sexual and animal violence, of which there were several.

I really found it to be a strangely paced book. It was SO SLOW until like half way through. Just plodding along, plodding along. No progress on the mystery, no progress on the plot. Then, over half way through, our heroes figure almost everything out in a few pages. And it is written in a way that kills any interest you might have had in the mystery at hand. Like, oh by the way, they figured out this and this and made that connection. There was no gradual piecing together of knowledge or sudden insight for the readers, oh no. It was like Larsson suddenly decided that brevity was to be preferred and crammed what should have been the meat of the story into a small, abrupt section of the book. What a waste of time.

It was impossible to like any of the characters, with the possible exception of Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo) was not a character you could relate to or empathize with. Her character was so absurdly contrived and eclectic. She could not have been less like a real human if Larsson tried. He tried so hard to write her thought processes but it just made her seem impossible.

It's a pet peeve of mine when authors mix perspectives and point of view characters. I know there is nothing technically wrong with it, but it makes me crazy. I find it incredibly distracting when you are cruising along from the perspective of one character and then suddenly and inexplicably the thoughts of someone else are interjecting. It's jarring. I especially disliked the contexts in which Larsson distractingly switched perspectives. It was just icing when I was reading about how *someone* felt to be butt raped, and then suddenly I was reading about what the rapist was thinking. Really Larsson? Was that necessary?

The story was over almost exactly a hundred pages before Larsson stopped writing the stupid book. After the epic conclusion, the final nausea inducing confrontations and discoveries, he spends a hundred pages wrapping up side-plots that I did not give a rat's tit about. I doubt I am the only one who was totally uninterested in the financial fraud tangents in this book. They were a nice break from reading about bondage, but otherwise not something I enjoyed.

In summary, do yourself a favor and skip this one. If you like reading violent porn, if that's your thing, whatever. You would be better off reading porn without windy descriptions of boring characters and financial fraud. If you do not want to read about incredibly disturbing things just pass on this book. It's not worth it.

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

Under the Banner of Heaven is an honest exploration of the founding of the Mormon religion and several violent incidents related to Mormon fundamentalists.


This book got a lot of flak for the describing the connection between Mormonism and faith-based violence. If you wouldn't enjoy reading a strong case for the link between extreme religion and violence, this probably isn't the book for you. But I loved it. I actually thought he worked hard to differentiate mainstream, modern Mormonism from its fundamentalist offshoots. Krakauer repeatedly made clear that the Mormon church condemned the splinter sects that were practicing polygamy and all that. I thought Krakauer wrote most of his descriptions of Mormonism in a very credulous manner. It was not obvious that the author was not himself Mormon, or that the descriptions weren't something the Mormon church would condone. The book portrayed mainstream Mormons very positively, in my opinion.

Krakauer gives a well-researched and disinterested introduction to Mormonism. He points out that the Mormon church attempts to "clean" its history by hiding evidence for certain rather... immoral... events in the church's history. Krakauer's account highlights both atrocities committed by, and those committed against early Mormons. It seems to be a remarkably unbiased account.

He also described several remarkably horrifying crimes committed by Mormon fundamentalists. The most space in the book is devoted to the murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty by Brenda's brothers-in-law, with focus also on the religiously motivated rape and kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Krakauer points out that these crimes would not have even been conceived without the strong, unquestioning faith of the perpetrators.

Krakauer describes pretty much every individual involved in these and other crimes extensively. You can't help getting a feel for what makes them tick. It is easy to see how a context in which otherwise good people are encouraged to surrender their own judgment and common sense would lead to disasters such as the Lafferty murders or the Mountain Meadows Massacre. When you are raised in a religion where God talking to people is normal, acting on divine instructions would surely seem like the right thing to do. Individuals acting on "instructions from God" and murdering, stealing and raping is simply taking complete faith to its logical conclusion. Similarly, the Mormon religion has a history of declaring that the laws of man are irrelevant when contradicted by the laws of God. A religion that encourages its members to break certain laws could be expected to lead to crimes.

One major take-away from this book for me was the issue brought up during the trial of a fundamentalist Mormon murderer. The defense attempted to prove that he was insane due to his extreme (and unusual) faith. The prosecution pointed out that considering faith to be mental illness would be a powerful legal precedent as well as an unpopular position, since most Americans to some extent or another hold views that are not supported by evidence. Would this make any religious person legally insane? Only if his religion was unusual? Is faith only sane if it's a popular faith? The court ultimately decided that his faith was not mental illness, but it is an incredibly interesting issue to consider.

The most upsetting part of the book, for me, was not the recent murders or historical massacres but the descriptions of polygamy as it is practiced today in places like Colorado City. Girls are commonly married to much older polygamist men as soon as they reach puberty. They are inevitably raped by their new "husbands" and if that is the first time in their childhood that they have been raped or molested, they are among the luckier girls. Sure, rape and child abuse happen in all kinds of settings. It's obviously not an exclusively Mormon thing. But in these fundamentalist communities it is condoned and pervasive. It is normal. It's the only life these girls know. They can't go to the authorities, because the only authority in these communities is participating in their subjugation. The most sickening part is the way people (generally young girls) are manipulated by their faith. They are told if they are not sweet and compliant they will go to hell. Old men (often their fathers or close relatives) are telling them that if they struggle while being raped, they will burn in hell. I pretty much felt like throwing up while reading sections of this book. It is hard to think that this goes on in my own country, my own state even.

I guess what I didn't care for in Krakauer's writing is the way he sort of jumps around. He likes to summarize an event and go back and elaborately describe the period leading up to it and the important people relating to the event. With my overly-linear brain and short attention span, this required me to reread sections. His writing is beautiful. There were many wonderfully phrased quotes I flagged in "Under the Banner of Heaven" as well as ideas I will take with me. I don't think the jumping around pacing would bother most readers like it does me.

I would recommend this book to almost anyone. It was very edifying, memorable and beautifully written. I think the unpleasant manifestations of extreme faith in America is something we should all be aware of.

Emma 6, Emily 4

Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman

Wings of Wrath is the sequel to Feast of Souls, and is the second book in Friedman's Magister Trilogy. This book made the Magister series even more compelling. I cannot wait for the third book, the ending of Wings of Wrath left a bunch of questions that I want answers to badly. It isn't expected to be released until May 2011, and that makes me very sad.


This book focuses on the world's fight against the terrifying "soul eaters" that are gradually returning, and various more complicated politics of the setting. Some of the characters in the background of the previous book got real, real interesting in Wings of Wrath. I especially enjoyed the Witch-Queen's chapters. She has incredibly fascinating motivations and perspectives.

I almost never enjoy reading sex-scenes. They do nothing for me and usually just make me cringe. At best, I normally feel like sex-scenes are a necessary evil for showing characters' relationships. In Wings of Wrath, CS Friedman wrote some amazing seduction scenes. They were vivid and tasteful and I actually enjoyed reading them. It was weird.

If you have any interest in fantasy books and haven't yet read Friedman, fix that now. Go get Feast of Souls and Wings of Wrath!

My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.

In which the author enjoys, survives and recovers from a stroke.


Taylor was a brain scientist and activist for brain donation before she woke up and had a massive stroke. About a decade later, she was able to write this book about her complete experience from the perspective of a brain expert. I bought the book because it was on sale at the book store, looked interesting, and was something I don't normally read. I wasn't disappointed!

I think the most valuable insight Taylor offers is what it feels like to have a stroke. She described it vividly, from her first realization that something was seriously wrong to the recovery stages. More than what she feels or where she hurts, Taylor describes her thought processes as her brain freaks out. It is really fascinating! I obviously hope I never have to find out first hand, but she made the stroke itself sound like an incredible experience.

Taylor apparently wrote her book in an attempt to help other stroke victims. If people can figure out what is going wrong and get help quickly (more difficult than you might think!) when they have a stroke, it improves their outlook. Taylor also describes what factors helped (and impaired) her recovery in an attempt to improve the lives of other stroke victims.

What I didn't like about this book was where it delved in to what I would consider pseudo-science. It was very much reminiscent of the movie "What the Bleep" in a questionable blend of science and fantasy. For example, she continuously referred to people she didn't relate well to in her stroked condition as "energy vampires" because apparently they sucked the energy out of her brain. Okay. The last few chapters of the book focus extensively on visualizing stuff to make your brain cells work better. Meh. And thinking about things to improve all kinds of bodily functions. Blah. Not the type of fantasy I enjoy reading.

I would recommend this book, although I wish I could redact chapters 16 through 20. They were just a waste of time. I greatly enjoyed the first 15 chapters though. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to someone who was close to a stroke victim, or was otherwise curious, particularly if they had a higher tolerance for pseudo science than I do.

Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman

This was the first book in C.S. Friedman's Magisters Trilogy. The Magisters setting is a world in which magic can be practiced only at the cost of minutes of life. Witches burn through their own life ("soulfire") to do magic, while Magisters possess a more mysterious source for their power. The story follows, among others, a girl named Kamala who wants to be powerful despite her traumatizing upbringing and inherent limitations. Other characters' story lines diverge and collide with hers throughout the book as Kamala figures out her power.


I originally read this book in college. It was recommended by a friend and was the first C.S. Friedman book I read. I had to read it again recently since I had forgotten too many details to properly enjoy the next book in the series (Wings of Wrath). I feel like I got more out of the book the second time. My original recollections about the book were that it was pretty much about Kamala and her adventures. On the second reading, the other plot lines seemed more relevant and the story that appears to be the focus of the entire series seemed to be more of the book's point.

Either way, it's a great story! C.S. Friedman's writing is almost always on the darkest edge of what I chose to read, as far as sex and violence, but she writes so well that it doesn't bother me. Her books tend to have memorable antiheroes. There are rarely characters that are simply good guys or bad guys. Almost all the characters in each of her books are flawed, but still have intentions and motivations you can relate to to some extent, and Feast of Souls is no exception. The main character is very, very flawed but still someone you will want to see come out ahead.

I am currently reading the second Magisters book, and the third one is anticipated for May 2011, but I don't hesitate to recommend this series to fantasy enthusiasts! All of C.S. Friedman's books are definitely worth checking out, and the Magisters Trilogy promises to be her most solid story yet. If you like interesting settings, complicated characters, and exciting adventure I can't recommend this series enough.

Hitch 22 by Christopher Hitchens

This book was a gigantic (422 page, in fact) disappointment. I found his other book "god is Not Great" (his capitalization choices) fairly interesting, and I had enjoyed some article-length things he has written. This book was so boring and pointless. It was over 400 pages of Hitchens engaging in solipsistic name dropping.


Literally page after page of this book was descriptions of how Hitchens knew important poets, future politicians or activists and how much they all loved him. Barf. I kept waiting for the part about name dropping to end, but it really didn't. It was like the entire point of the book was for Hitchens to set down in writing how he met all of these people, how important and awesome they were, and how much they adored him. Gag.

The interesting part was about his childhood. There were some brave revelations and relevant background information. As soon as the book got to his college days it stopped being deep or revealing and just seemed to be him making an unconvincing case for what a clever, important man he is. I have never been all about reading autobiographies, but I thought they were supposed to have insight and history that would be relevant for someone other than personal friends of the author.

So my advice is to not buy this book. Borrow it from someone who was dumb enough to buy it, and read the chapter titled "Mesopotamia from Both Sides". It starts on page 281. You're welcome. This chapter was about the current middle east situation and America's involvement. Hitchens does have some interesting things to say about the topic, and keeps the name dropping to an almost tolerable level in this chapter. Unless you really want to know about the parties Hitchens attended with various poets and activists you've probably never heard of, skip the rest.

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

The Hero of Ages is the final book in Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. I will inevitably be incorporating all three books into this review, but I will try to focus on the third book and avoid spoilers.


In general this book provides a satisfying and interesting conclusion to a great story. Sanderson is one of my favorite fantasy authors, and easily the most prolific of the authors I really get excited about reading. His books have really well thought out and unusual systems of magic in the settings. They have specific rules and limitations and sort of make sense in the settings. In Mistborn, the three magical disciplines are all intertwined and the reader gets a better and better sense of them as the story progresses. Particularly in the third book, the intricacies of the magical disciplines are key to the story's ending.

One thing Sanderson seems to have a thing for is settings with religions that are firmly grounded in reality. There are "gods" running around and influencing the world in ways that require no more faith than, say, believing in an exceptionally powerful king or other leader. Mistborn, despite featuring a "religion" or two fully backed up by history, evidence, and "gods" in living memory involves a character having a crisis of faith. It seems a little contrived to me. Sanderson seems to think that a non-believer can choose to have faith and believe in something that he just doesn't believe in. I would tend to disagree.

I never got super excited about the main characters in Mistborn, at least not as much as I feel I could have been. I can't go into much detail without giving important spoilers away, but the story of the main characters never really appealed to me much. I was more interested in the peripheral characters such as the Kandra or the other Allomancers who are generally ignored.

I think this review might come off more negatively than I intended. Mistborn is a fantastic story with generally interesting characters and a really, really unique setting. Sanderson's writing is never slow or boring, you always want to know what happens next! The Hero of Ages and the entire Mistborn trilogy is certainly worth reading, particularly if you like your fantasy generally happy and upbeat, without dismal human failings and cruelty. Sanderson is a perfect heir to Robert Jordan's throne, since his writing is similarly "tidy" as far as limiting the depravity and sexuality, while still seeming like real people.