Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer

So Joshua Foer was a reporter for Discovery when he originally attended the US Memory Championship, after finding that the contestants were just regular folks who mastered a specific set of skills. He finds himself on course to learn all the secrets and returns next year to win. This book is the chronicle of that year. It touch on way more than just memory trick, the science of memory, the history the skills, how various ancients viewed memory, chapters on what it takes to master skills in general. So many topics between two cover. All well written and easy to follow.

Now I've had a look at some of the reviews on Amazon.com, and a lot of people complained about how it wasn't just a book of memory techniques and that you should instead read one of Harry Lorayne's books. Well first off I've never made it farther than half way through one of Lorayne's books. The half I did read didn't go over what to do if you get plateaued and find your self stuck unable to improve. And secondly nowhere on Joshua Foer's book did I find the claim that the purposes of the book was to teach you memory secrets.

I found this book to be informative and inspiring. The message is not how to remember more things but instead how anyone willing to devote the time and effort can master any skill set. The book caused me to think, even to re-evaluate how I read.

I'm giving this book a 10/10.

A Steampunk’s Guide to Sex

This book comes to me with an interesting back story. When it was just a dream on kickstarter I read about it on a blog, and thought that's interesting then I moved on and thought no more about it. Then I get an email from a band I follow and it turns out they were playing a launch party for a book in a town near me. The book was 'A Steampunk’s Guide to Sex' but I was more interesting in seeing my favorite band so I got my best friend and we went to the party and had a good time and my friend wanted the book. It turned out to only be $10 so I got her a copy even got it signed by one of the authors.

 It's a study of human sexuality through the lens of Victorian society. It's a rather small book but it's chock full of info, it's a little skimpy on actual steampunk info, instead it focuses more on sex in the Victorian age. I feel I more than got my monies worth but I also feel that it barely scrapes the surface of most topics. It leaves it up to the reader to go out and study the topic that interest them. Unfortunately it often lack enough base info to get a good start on the search for more info. By far my favorite section was the one on slang. I have to give this book a 10/10

The Optimist's/Pessimist's Handbook: A Companion to Hope and Despair

A delightful little book in that it is quite literally two books with opposing view points sharing the same binding. The books are turned so that when one is right side up the other is upside down. Each start at one cover and then meet in the middle. In fact I spent a minute or two flipping it over in my hands trying to figure out which was supposed to be the front of the book. Try as I might it seems that all the ways I could think of to determine a front and back were already covered. Each side had barcode and it's own copyright page the text on the inside of the dust jacket was set up appropriately for each. Each half is a collection of quotes and factoids that either support optimism or pessimism. I didn't read all of the Optimists side but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would not complain if it were in my personal collection. I'm going to have to give it an 8/10