Recent reading has included “Pragmatic Thinking and Learning” by Andy Hunt, from @progprog. Most interestingly, it covers almost exclusively topics that I have absorbed over the last 30 years or so – meditation, context switching, personality types, left/right brain thinking, mind maps, GTD, and so on. I didn’t realise that I knew so much!
Also tagged programmingThere’s been a lot of buzz about Jim Lahey’s techniques over the last couple of years. Â There’s no doubt that he’s a dedicated baker, and that his approach is worth considering; not least because it’s a set of simple rules that will give more consistent results, and good results, than a novice baker can hope […]
Also tagged baking, breadI wasn’t going to read this book, being acquainted with Ms Day-Lewis’s writing of yore for the Sunday supplements. In my mind I hear a hectoring, strident voice, talking about the fashionable issues: organic, sustainable, seasonal, Aga, farmhouse kitchen; listen to her Amazon video if you’d like to hear exactly what nightmare runs in my […]
Also tagged cookeryI am a big fan of the Good Eats show, even though my only access to it is via YouTube, and I have Alton Brown’s three previous books from the series. There are 80 episodes covered in this first installment of three books (not two, as the Product Description claims), each with a short discussion […]
Also tagged cookeryIt has taken me some time to get around to reading this book – close to 40 years, if I remember that far back clearly (which mostly I do). I remember seeing the great film classic version when I was young, many times; to be honest, it didn’t really grip me, although the switch into […]
Also taggedAnglers talk of this book with reverence, or did so when I was in my teens. Â Back then I can recall taking a look, and finding it rather impenetrable, written in an archaic style. All of this is still true, but I found it an interesting read none the less. Â There is certainly a lot […]
Also taggedI picked this up in Waterstones, after a quick browse.  It is more or less a book version of Ben’s blog, which in turn is related to his column in the Guardian.  It’s a reasonably entertaining exposé of newspaper journalism concerning health stories. The main topics covered are: nutritionists, MMR, and homeopathy.  In order: he […]
Also taggedThis is the first in a series of posts reviewing books, as I read them. Â Older book reviews here are mostly archives of reviews that I have posted to Amazon, some for computing books, others for cookery books. I first read A Princess of Mars in my early teens (I was possibly 12 at the […]
Also taggedThis book is one of the (very few) classics of software development. It is written in a simple style that is easy to understand, but offers great truths. Many people with limited experience won’t be able to fully appreciate what it has to offer; this is the collation of two lifetimes of experience in the […]
Also taggedIf you bake bread, then you will be in sympathy with what Andrew Whitley has to say. The author rants extensively about the state of the industry, and the depredations to our palate caused by the Chorleywood process with no signs of abatement. He informs this with an eye to the biochemistry of baking that […]
Also tagged baking, bread