Review: The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight

The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight by Valter Longo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very interesting, although the fmd seems a bit hardcore for most people (and he specifies to check with a doctor before setting out). 

Anyway, I like his points re: eating what your ancestors ate, and also about starving cancer (where had I heard that before?) 

Otherwise it seems to make sense. He seems quite down on all meat, except fish, and very big on veggies, legumes and nuts & seeds. Not so much fruit. 

I might try the fmd with my wife at some point (maybe checking with a doctor first), and, if so, I'll update on that as well. 

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Review: Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite a good book about a momentous voyage and an interesting man. I mean, more than anything he seems to be in the right place at the right time. He was obviously quite a good sailor (the method in which the 4 other boats were going to mutiny against his boat, and he was able to turn it around in his favor was very impressive). However, as a human he seems pretty terrible. Between capturing the natives in South America, being completely back-handed with them all over, and finally letting everything going to his head at the very end, you can't help concluding he sort of deserved the end he got (ambushed and kills by locals in the Philippines, and possibly betrayed by his own men). 

However, the voyage itself was quite momentous, and it is interesting to see how ill-fated pretty much all of its crew were. 

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Review: The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't read much sci-fi, so I probably shouldn't be commenting too much. Also, I don't know how much of this book was obvious/known, so I'll just say "Spoilers ahead" just in case:

This sort of reminded me of "Ender's game" (which might literally be the only other scifi novel I've read in the past 10 years), in that people are playing a video game to solve a real problem. Is this a common sci-fi trope? 

Anyway, I really liked many of the ideas, like how if aliens were to come humans wouldn't "Unite" against them, but would almost certainly get divided, no matter whether the aliens were enemies or friends. Pretty much every other chapter had me thinking about some new concept (how a computer would operate with people representing the 1's and 0's? How would people (scientists) react if none of the rules of physics applied anymore? How would the world change if we knew aliens were going to invade in 450 years (so, not in any of our lifetimes)? I don't know how much is obvious to people who are more knowledgable, or if a lot of it is far-fetched. Also, I should admit that I had heard of the "three body problem" somewhere at some point, but even if I once knew what it was, I had forgotten about it long ago. 

The jumps in time were a bit confusing to me, as was the science, but there you go. All in all a unique book, and definitely worth reading, especially for people who are more scientifically-inclined than I am. 

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Review: Thale's Folly

Thale's Folly by Dorothy Gilman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why I thought this would be a murder mystery. It's not really even a mystery. Still, I'm glad I read it. It's a feel-good story, but done well. 

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Review: The Economist : Christmas Double Issue

The Economist : Christmas Double Issue by Mooh Samed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another excellent issue, just like every year. 

My favorite articles:

"Unearthing the Truth" (Archaeology in Zimbabwe)

"Teach your children well" (Parenting in Hong Kong)

"Gimme Shelter" (about corrugated iron)

"The last holdout" (about the kampong in Singapore)

"Pocock's pen pals" (about everyday life in Britain)

"No spring chicken" (an excellent infographic about meatless meat since 600 BC)

"Murder of the Orient Express" (about railroads through the middle east)

"A world of two halves" (North vs. South, from Belgium to Vietnam)

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Review: How to Own Your Own Mind

How to Own Your Own Mind by Napoleon Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So here's a sentence:

"It is generally conceded that no group of people, throughout the pioneering days of this country, from the early pilgrim settlers on down to the present, were harassed and persecuted as severely as were the Mormons. "

Regardless, there were a few gems, but otherwise you sort of get the impression he was commissioned by Carnegie to "interview" him for business and life advice. 

The book mentions having an all-driving purpose, being persistent, taking action, and having absolute faith you'll succeed. I wouldn't call it by any means rigorous or scientific, but probably not bad advice. To be fair, even nowadays you hear similar proclamations without accounting for things like survivorship bias (plenty of people follow all that advice and end up failing, yet they are never interviewed). However, that doesn't necessarily make it more excusable. Just keep it in mind. 

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Review: Love

Love by Hanne Ørstavik
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sorry. I only finished it because it was so short. As a parent, I found Vibeke pretty crappy as a human being and couldn't really get into the rest. 

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Review: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This turned out to be much better than I thought it would be. An insider's look into what lexicographers working on making dictionaries go through. 

Some of my notes: 

People are actively advised not to be social at work. For phone calls you can only use 2 payphones that hardly ever get used. 

Cheatsheet they use for Transitive verbs: "I'mma _____ his ass". If you can insert the verb in the blank, it is transitive. 

Apparently lexicographers *hate* dealing with so-called grammar nazis. To them that isn't what grammar is. In fact, most of the well-established rules these grammar-nazis want everyone to follow are extremely faulty. 

An example: Its (possessive) vs. It's (contraction). This seems simple enough, since we know "it's" is short for "it is" or "it has". 

Except we also know " -'s" is short for possessives (as in "the dog's bowl") so why isn't it natural for "it's" to be possessive? 

In fact, we have no problem accepting that "the dog's barking" and "the dog's bowl" are both correct, both using "--'s". Why are we so bothered when it comes to "it's"? 

Btw, this is a recent phenomenon (like many grammar rules we have now). Chaucer and Shakespeare just used "it". The addition of the 's' came later, but not as we use it. In fact, at first people complained about its incorrect usage, but the other way around. They said "it's" being short for "it is" didn't make sense because we already had "T'is" 

"On fleek" first appeared in June 2014, in a 6 second video by Peaches Monroe (where she called her eyebrows on fleek). In November, 5 months later, nearly 10% of all Google searches were for "On fleek". When asked, she said she just invented it. 

Many English words come from French, but some, like "Lingerie", have a pronunciation in English that has almost nothing to do with the French pronunciation of the same spelling. (we think French words should end in "ay", like Café, so we end "Lingerie" with the same sound, and pronounce the first syllable like the "En" from a french-isized "Envelope". 

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Review: When Money Was in Fashion: Henry Goldman, Goldman Sachs, and the Founding of Wall Street

When Money Was in Fashion: Henry Goldman, Goldman Sachs, and the Founding of Wall Street by June Breton Fisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Definitely an interesting book, and I'm glad I picked it up. Written by Henry Goldman's granddaughter, it talks of the family history in immigrating to the United States, as well as the beginning of Goldman Sachs, and its progression and growth with Henry at the helm, to is downturn and public sale. 

This is what you would expect from a family memoir, made up pretty much exclusively of family recollections. It would have been nice to have a historian co-write another edition, maybe filling in the gaps and rectifying any mistakes or other issues. 

But all in all an enlightening and pleasant read. 

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Review: Some Trick: Thirteen Stories

Some Trick: Thirteen Stories by Helen DeWitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have no idea how to rate this. The stories were all unique in their own way. Although I did feel that some of them had an excellent premise that then didn't go anywhere (

Favorite stories;

Out on the Town 

Favorite Last Words

My Heart Belongs to Bertie (possibly. I did enjoy it, but I wish more had happened)

Improvisation is the Heart of Music (Excellent premise. If these were expanded upon I'd love to read the book)

The last story, Entourage, was also really fun. 

I'm giving this 4 stars because I really believe Helen Dewitt can build upon these inspirations and make more with them (I'm basing this on nothing. Possibly just wishful thinking). 

Anyway, if this sounds like a lot of incoherent rambling just read the stories. 

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Review: How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness

How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness by Russ Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is basically an excellent book review of "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" by Adam Smith, which is probably better than just reading the book itself, since Roberts obviously understands a great deal about Smith and about what he meant by certain arcane expressions, etc. In fact, maybe it's more like taking a seminar on the book. Regardless, the outcome is a sort of self-help book, not about economics, but more about what today we might call Behavioral economics. 

Most of the points being made aren't necessarily new, but in fact it is sometimes surprising how certain concepts that get labeled "new age" were in vogue in the late 1700s. 

An interesting parallel Roberts noted was how since the War on drugs started in the 1980s, there has actually been a bigger decrease in smokers than in drug users. Sometimes you can't legislate things out of existence. 

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