The Totally Useless History of Science, by Ian Crofton

Summary: This book is a chronologically-organized series of blurbs about ridiculous scientific ideas, ideas that were ahead of their time, the research that might or might not have been in the running for an Ignoble Award, and other randomness from science through the ages.

Comments: I didn't have to get too far into this book before concluding that someone knows me too well (this was a Christmas present a few years back). I rather enjoyed all the useless facts this book has to share, and the chronological order seems like a rather good way to organize all of them.

The Master Algorithm, by Pedro Domingos

Summary: An overview of the different tribes within machine learning, with a focus on trying to unify them.

Comments: First, I have to say that I was looking for Machine Learning, A How-To For Dummies, and instead got Machine Learning, A Brief History. Which is really my fault for not paying more attention to what I was actually getting. But anyway. This book somehow manages to both be fairly technical and not require much, if any, background knowledge. So if that's something that interests you, I'd definitely recommend this book. On the other hand, I could definitely see most people who are interested in the gritty details also wanting some how-to info, which you're not going to find.

Redwall, by Brian Jacques

Summary: When the Abbey of Redwall and its peace-loving inhabitants come under attack by the army of Cluny the Scourge, they find themselves fighting for their lives.

Comments: I probably should have included in the summary that the Abbey is inhabited by an order of mice, as well as assorted other woodland creatures while Cluny's army is comprised of rats, stoats, ferrets, and weasels. Jacques does a good job of balancing the anthropomorphicness of the animals tending crops and wielding swords with allowing the animals to act in keeping with their species. For example, when they need someone to scale the side of the Abbey, they naturally turn to Jess Squirrel, who is an excellent climber.

As far as the battle side of things, the various twists and turns and narrow escapes make for a book that's hard to put down. And being able to get inside the heads of a variety of characters on both sides, and on no side, both helps one to get a full picture of what's going on as well as to increase the suspense.

I would highly recommend this book.

How to Make People Think You're Normal, by Ben Goode

I originally went into this book thinking it was a self-help book, but very quickly realized I was mistaken. After reading half of it and then starting over and reading the entire thing several months later, I can honestly say that knowing that is a humor book doesn't make it any better.

In the book's defense, it presents a kind of lowest-common-denominator, often mean-spirited humor that I rarely find funny in any context, so the fact that I don't have anything more positive to say about this book than that it's short would not have been a surprise if I had known anything about the book other than the title before I began reading.

In short, I can't recommend this book to anyone, but if you happen to have a sense of humor that I'm struggling to find non-pejoritive adjectives to describe, I might encourage you to ignore what I've said.

Sometimes when you feel a need to read ALL the books people give you, you end up with flops like this. I have to wonder if the book was purchased mostly for the penguin on the cover.

You are Not so Smart, by David McRaney

Summary: a description of some of the many ways our brains delude us or work against us.

Comments: This is a really fascinating, accessible read. Many of these are things I'd already learned, but it's still worthwhile it have everything laid out like this. And while the book is written at a level anyone can understand, there's a bibliography at the end if you want to delve deeper. Definitely worth reading and a good read.

The Dragons of Dorcastle and The Hidden Masters of Marandur, by Jack Campbell

Summary: Master Mechanic Mari of Caer Lyn and Mage Alain of Ihris are the youngest people to reach that rank in a long time, if not ever. As a Mechanic, she is one of the few who knows how to build and fix things. As a Mage, he knows how to cause things to happen by changing the world illusion. The two are brought together by chance after their caravan is destroyed. Otherwise, there's almost no chance they would have met as their Guilds are deeply suspicious of each other. There's danger lurking at every turn as they try to save the world.

Comments: These are the first two books in a six book set. I'm thinking I won't post about the subsequent books as they're really one long story, and describing later books in too much detail might spoil earlier ones. These books are awesome. A riveting story line, a strong female lead (and also a strong male lead), plenty of sarcasm... what's not to like? Oh, and good morals too.

Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson

Summary: a series of essays about Jenny's adventures, strange thoughts, and struggles with depression and other mental illnesses.

Thoughts: a lot of the book is incredibly amusing. It's hard not to laugh about attempts to get a taxidermied raccoon to ride cats, for example. But the subtheme about the value of being open and honest about mental illness because it affects a lot more people than you realize is also very important. The two parts tie together well to make a book everyone should read and most people would enjoy.