During the semester, I have to cut back on my reading quite a bit. This is especially true for semesters like this one when I teach Political Economic Thought, as we read ten different books by economists this semester. (A review on those ten books coming later.) However, I did find some time recently to read a few books ... here are my thoughts on them
The Signal and the Noise. By Nate Silver. This book is amazing. Silver is good at explaining how to think about predictions, statistical variance, noise, and more. It is well written with some interesting stories as well. As someone who likes games, I really enjoyed the sections on basketball and chess. His story on poker matches my experience as a semi-professional player from 2004-2011, and was also fun to read. This might be the best book I've read in the past year.
Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days. Given that I can't play poker online anymore, I've gotten more into trivia. I don't think I'll ever be as good at trivia as I was at poker, but I still enjoy trying to get better. This book is fun, and has a great mix of easier and more-difficult (and some virtually impossible) questions.
Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days
. Given that I can't play poker online anymore, I've gotten more into trivia. I don't think I'll ever be as good at trivia as I was at poker, but I still enjoy trying to get better. This book is fun, and has a great mix of easier and more-difficult (and some virtually impossible) questions.Unnaturally Green: One girl's journey along a yellow brick road less traveled. I've seen Wicked twice. (My wife and I saw it, then my in-laws wanted to bring our whole family (mainly kids) to see it.) Although it isn't my favorite show - some people are obsessive about Wicked - I did enjoy it. This book does a nice job at providing details of some of the behind-the-scenes issues that a lady went through in her transition from a non-Broadway job to playing the lead role in Wicked (Elphaba). Highly recommended for fans of Broadway musicals.
. I've seen Wicked twice. (My wife and I saw it, then my in-laws wanted to bring our whole family (mainly kids) to see it.) Although it isn't my favorite show - some people are obsessive about Wicked - I did enjoy it. This book does a nice job at providing details of some of the behind-the-scenes issues that a lady went through in her transition from a non-Broadway job to playing the lead role in Wicked (Elphaba). Highly recommended for fans of Broadway musicals.
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