Review: Spitfire Pilot: A Personal Account of the Battle of Britain

Spitfire Pilot: A Personal Account of the Battle of Britain by David M. Crook
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book consists of diary entries of a young man who becomes a pilot at the beginning of the Battle of Britain. He describes the life of a young pilot, including drinking at the pub and building a family, but also including the many air battles he participated in and surviving enemy bombings. The author covers the losses of fellow pilots, often in detail. He tells of the boring times, too, flying when they don’t see or can’t catch enemies, as well as the weather delays. I found the descriptions revealing and interesting. The author is taken with the war effort, repeating those sayings you often hear. Good for portrayals of air warfare from the Spitfire pilot’s seat, lots of action, easy to read. Ends early in the war as the pilot moves on to a different position. Noted two uses of the n-word describing difficult work.

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Review: Plato and the Nerd: The Creative Partnership of Humans and Technology

Plato and the Nerd: The Creative Partnership of Humans and Technology by Edward Ashford Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found myself somewhat ill-prepared to take on this detailed look at the state of computer engineering, though I have a(n aged) degree in it. Half of the book was very high level, explaining, for instance, the behavior of logic circuits. These basic descriptions were often followed by detailed college level math to tie the practical back to the theory. Note to self – avoid audiobooks with college level math formulas, these need to be seen to be understood. I got a few things out of this long book. In particular, the main point of the author, based on my occasional flashes of recognition, was that the digital world was not a perfect replicator of the physical world, because the digital word was discrete, with measurements taken at intervals, whereas the physical world was continuous, with changes that could occur between those digital measurements. Given this obvious weakness, the digital world can’t be counted on to perfectly model the real, physical world. BTW, I understood this before I picked this book up. The book references other books, including “Goedel, Escher, Bach” by Hofstadter, which I believe informed its style as well as some of the content. This might be one of those books that, if you want to listen to the audiobook, you have to follow along in a physical book in order to see formulas and highlight.

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Review: John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs

John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs by Jack London
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

London starts and ends this book with a diatribe for prohibition, but the large middle of the book contains his braggadocio and humorous accounts of getting and being drunk. For someone who seemed to relish the drunken life, London’s exhortations for prohibition feel like lip service. Well written, and makes me surprised that London lived as long as he did. This made me consider my own anecdotes of “epic-to-me” drunken nights, and I am but a piker compared to London. Quite a life.

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Review: Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: A True Love Story

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: A True Love Story by Peter Turner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A sad story, sadly told. The book is purportedly about Peter, who is taking care of a former lover through her decline with cancer. You would think you would feel sorry for Peter, or sad, but he doesn’t come across as very aware of what is going on, or very capable of handling the situation. Peter comes across as young and self-centered, but basically a good bloke. If anyone, you feel for Peter’s mom, who seems to handle the stress and do most of the work involved here. Interesting to read for the story of Gloria Grahame’s career, and for the culture clash of Hollywood acting elite and a blue collar Liverpool family, with a hometown actor, of “transient sexuality” I believe he said, that is the link between both. The personalities come together as you would expect – what an interesting mixture - and the book captures the strains.

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Review: The Snack Thief

The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I seem to be attracted to mysteries with grumpy detectives and a lot of descriptions of food. I've read the Swedish Wallander books, and that had a grumpy detective but with humorously lousy food. Burnt coffee and rusk, anyone? Here, Montalbano checks off on grumpy, but the food is described lovingly, respectfully, and tantalizingly. There's a mystery here that you have to pay attention to in order to follow the threads - Montalbano is covering multiple cases and a messy private life all simultaneously, so there's plenty to maintain interest. I am looking forward to continuing this series.

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Review: Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success: Connect With Customers and Get Results

Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success: Connect With Customers and Get Results by Colleen Stanley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked the short topics, and the “action tips” for self improvement in these areas. What you find here are about what you expect if you’ve read sales books and EQ books (and books on introverts, not so strangely). I found the organization and the writing very good for this type of book, and would recommend it as a good review of process steps, attitudes, etc.

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Review: Abducting a General: The Kreipe Operation and SOE in Crete

Abducting a General: The Kreipe Operation and SOE in Crete by Patrick Leigh Fermor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fermor’s account of his kidnapping of a Nazi general from Crete, while entertaining in its action, provides the most value in describing the rugged landscape of the island, the people of Crete, and the impact of the war on the citizens. After Fermor tells his story, the book includes a number of his dispatches from Crete, where he was a spy. When reading these dispatches, you understand that Fermor was a young man, without the benefit of experience, but with a young man’s attempts to “do something” for the war effort. He describes various ideas that at times seem harebrained, often involving bombs. He also describes accidentally shooting a comrade. You see how the idea of kidnapping the commanding general and dragging him through the mountains makes a kind of sense. I enjoyed the story and the things I learned about Crete. I found the writing interesting, but more challenging than most of the popular books I read.

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