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This page contains commentary on books I've read and want to read. The lists are not comprehensive and not guaranteed to be up to date. I am not an amazon.com affiliate, so though I may have links to Amazon for your convenience, if you want to put some money in someone else's pocket, I would recommend one of the donation affiliated sites (like CharityWeb).

Currently Reading and recent reads not yet written up:

The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman
If You Can Stand the Heat : Tales from Chefs & Restaurateurs by Dawn Davis
Artificial Life by Steven Levy
McDonalds: Behind the Arches by John Love - the real story behind McD's
Survival of the Prettiest by Nancy Hetcoff - beauty meets Darwin
Dealers of Lightning by Michael Hiltzick - a history of Xerox Parc
Warrior Lessons, An Asian Woman's Journey into Power by Phoebe Eng
selections from the Time-Life Cooking of the World series - surprisingly fascinating cuisine writing, the personalities of the authors make it work, so some books in the series are better than others.

In the Pipeline: (on the big pile next to the bed or being housed on friends' bookshelves or at amazon.com or Kepler's (i.e. what I am trying to read but haven't yet)):

Release 2.0 by Esther Dyson
The Language Instinct (or, as we like to call it, "Buffalo buffalo buffalo.") by Steven Pinker
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
Leading By Design, The IKEA Story by Bertil Torekull
The End of Fashion by Teri Agins - subtitled "The Mass Marketing of the Clothing Business"

Have Read:

Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture by James Twitchell - A very thorough history of advertising and its insidious effect on our culture. Or, more to his point, that it is our culture. For me, his most enlightening revelation is that the cult of advertising is not a modern occurrence. Wallspace in Italian cathedrals was sold to rich families. This relates to his argument that advertising can't be separated from high art. It is not just commercial fluff, but a validating component of our society, for better or worse. Twitchell knows how to turn a phrase, sometimes to the extreme, but it keeps the book going. He has a perspective, an almost irreverent respect, which refreshingly counters the typical "advertising is ruining our culture" view. Adcult can definitely open your mind into a broader view of advertising's role in our world.

Dining Out by Dornenburg & Page - I always thought being a restaurant critic would be so much fun! You get to eat wonderful food, get paid for it, and you're treated like royalty by restaurant owners. Doesn't that sound divine? Well, it's not all wine and roses. As one critic puts it, sure, you get to eat some good food, but you also end up eating a lot of bad food. I wonder if you can get worker's comp for food poisoning? And, in order to get the "real" service that Jane and Joe Diner would, most reviewers use disguises and other tactics to remain anonymous when they dine out. Anyway, this book covers the ins and outs of the world of the food critic, a result of quality research and interviewing. Ruth Reichl of the New York Times is the most revered amongst the critics; she's a sociologist by training and her reviews cover the entire dining experience, not just the food, and put the chef and owner's efforts into the proper context for appreciation. This book has a good dose of behind the scenes info on the restaurant business, which is why I read it. There's also helpful info on how to get excellent service (surprise: be nice!), and ordering wine and cheeses. And if you still wanna be a critic, take heart, you don't need any special training, just an appreciation for good food. Tip: Monday is traditionally the chef's night off, so if you want to try a restaurant at its best, go another day.

Cinderella & Company by Manuela Hoelterhoff - Oh those opera divas. The Pulitzer Prize winning author followed opera singer Cecilia Bartoli around for a year, though I shouldn't say followed as much as "kept close tabs on". The watching over of the blossoming career of the mezzo soprano was a good excuse as any to write a book on the ego-filled offstage lives of opera's finest stars. This book is full of good "dish" on folks like Pavarotti, referred to as "Mr. P", and Kathleen (banned from the Met) Battle who, according to the author, once called her manager from her limo to ask him to tell her driver to turn the air conditioning down. As we watch Cecilia and her peers cancel performance upon recital upon benefit concert, and argue musical nuances with conductors whose teachers knew the original composers, we wonder how opera managers and directors manage to put on any type of decent show while coping with these extraordinary star personalities. If you are looking for an objective account of the people who sing opera for a living, you won't find it here amongst the shrewd observations that perhaps Cecilia could have avoided that flu if she had only been able to put aside her fear of hat hair and avoided those extra pounds if she had walked a few more times around the block. You will find a very witty, often hysterically funny, account of the world of opera celebrities and those usually patient souls who have to deal with them.

Where the Suckers Moon by Randall Rothenberg - Chronicles Subaru picking a new advertising agency. (I didn't read this just because I drive one.) (A Subaru, not an advertising agency!) The author was given full access to meetings and VIPs at Subaru of America and Wieden Kennedy, the agency they chose. What surprised me was that although this was about the early 90's, the Outback campaign (with Mr. Australia himself, Paul Hogan) was not covered in this book, so that campaign is newer than I thought. As a result, the book covers a pretty low period in Subaru's recent history. They tried to pull themselves out of declining sales during the recession. There's a lot of interesting information on Subaru's history in addition to the history of advertising, particularly car advertising. I discovered that Subaru of America began as an American company, an importer of Japanese cars indeed, but a very American entrepreneurial endeavor. The inside look at the creation and presentation of advertising pitches was fascinating; right down to the variety of tchotkes that the competing agencies handed out to the Subaru execs. The book continues long past the selection of the agency and goes into detail on the shooting of the commercials, selection of the voiceover artists, the extended revamping of the commercials and campaigns to try to please everyone but stay true to the creative intent, and the personalities involved on all sides. Nicely written and full of enlightening information.

Kitchens, The Culture of Restaurant Work by Gary Alan Fine
A sociologist takes a look behind the scenes at a selection of restaurants in Minnesota. There are some interesting tidbits of information about how restaurant kitchens function and the dynamics between chefs, servers, dishwashers and busboys. The hierarchy of the kitchen is discussed along with the different chef functions and career paths, e.g. what a chef de cuisine does, how some chefs become managers and don't cook anymore. The author spent months observing the kitchens and got to know the staff quite well. The writing is a bit dry, but it has enough interesting observations to be worthwhile. You can skim the dull parts and pay closer attention when they talk about people spitting in the stock pot.

Going, Going, Gone - Vanishing Americana by Susan Jones & Marilyn Nissenson
The history of about 70 things (objects, concepts, clothing, etc) that used to be commonplace but are now merely nostalgia. Great information about landfills (did you know that biodegradeable items don't decompose in landfills? There's not enough air! Made me realize that there is no good garbage!). Includes essays on the Automat, telephone operators, slide rules, "the unanswered phone", telegrams, polio scares, and some things you almost didn't realize were gone. The authors are Wellesley grads, which was an added plus for me.

Le Ton Beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter
No, it's not in French (though there was a time I could read French...). It's Douglas Hofstader's tome on translation and the meaning of words. It's also a beautiful tribute to his late wife (I never thought I'd cry while reading a Hofstader book, but I did). Chapters of his encounters with the art and philosophy of translation are sandwiched between a multitude of translations of a poem by Marot. That one French poem is translated into English in every possible style you can think of. It really makes you think about language and meaning. It is a very personal and revealing look into an amazing mind. He even lets you in on how he wrote and typeset the book so that words fell where he wanted them to. And what will really bake your noodle (to steal a phrase from The Matrix Oracle) is how is anyone going to attempt to translate this book!?

The Emperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn Brenner
Yum. Chocolate. This book is mostly about how Hershey and Mars run/ran their businesses. I enjoy well written accounts of the inside story of companies and how they market products (and get the public to buy their stuff) and when it involves food too, well, that's just chocolate icing on a chocolate cake. The author was able to get the inside scoop at Mars, which is strictly run by the Mars family who make it a policy not to talk to the press. There are so many fascinating facts here about both companies. Although Hershey's is public, most of the stock is held by a trust to fund a home for orphans and disadvantaged children. And did you ever wonder why M&M's are so addictive? And how ET almost got to eat them instead of Reese's Pieces? Enjoyable and educational reading.

My Tiny Life by Julian Dibbell
A guy gets addicted to TinyMoo and survives to write about it and marry a much neglected girlfriend. This reads kind of like a diary of the mad moo-er, but it has some interesting psychological and sociological aspects. The beginning account of the community's reaction to online rape drew me in, but the rest of the book is more an account of his experiences and not a comprehensive overview of online lives. Definitely a rental movie (translates in book-land to: wait for the paperback or borrow someone else's copy).

The Body Project by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
A look at the changing perspectives on the female body throughout history and through young girls' coming of age. Diary entries are used to reveal the inner body images of girls as they struggle with their changing figures. There's a lot of information in this book, but I can't remember any of it. I vaguely remember reading it all, but I didn't come away with anything. I think that may be because I am intimately aware of the topic and issues involved so I didn't feel like I gained an added perspective from this book. But maybe other people will.

Startup by Jerry Kaplan
Jerry Kaplan writes about the life and times of Go, a pen computing company. I read this book just to see how often GRiD was mentioned. OK, that's not really true. I read it because I've worked at four startups so everyone told me I should read it. No, that's not true either. I read it because I was actually part of the pen computing industry when many of the events in this book were taking place. I was intrigued to find out about another company's role in what was touted as the Next Big Thing. What's most interesting to me now, though, is that this isn't Marc Andreeson or Bill Gates writing about how they became millionaires, it's about a company's struggle to survive and how it ultimately failed. I don't think many business books get published about failures. But it's just as important to learn from failure than success. It's also good to remember that computer startups have been happening a lot longer than the current Internet boom (heck, don't most companies start out as one?) and there are lessons to be learned from our recent past. If you don't find much to learn in here (maybe you've already taken the big fall yourself), it's still a good read. I enjoyed finding out little personal details of the author's life as he worked to keep Go alive, and of course I cried when his cat died (hmmm, I don't think that's a spoiler).

Skunkworks by Ben R. Rich
Very interesting history of the Lockheed Skunkworks projects. The development of stealth technology is covered thoroughly and there are also neat tidbits about other previously classified programs. The author (though this was mostly ghostwritten) was the head of Skunkworks from 1975-1991. Most amusing are his remembrances about dealing with the government's "top secret" policies and certain arrogant military personnel. He really conveys the spirit of the Skunkworks and why it was a success.

Yes I realize these are all non-fiction books. I do read a lot of fiction also, but I don't feel inclined to write many reviews of fiction books; there's way too much personal taste involved. And I don't just want to stick a big list of books I've read here. And lately I've gone back to reading science fiction (after a 15 year absence) and there's already too much sci-fi info on the web. But in case you're wondering, here's some info on my book tastes. My favorite book is Jane Eyre (it's due for a re-read). My favorite fiction author is Douglas Adams. My favorite (current) non-fiction author is Steven Levy who wrote Hackers. I wish I could make him write about all the things I want to learn about. I didn't like Ethan Frome, I've never read The Grapes of Wrath, I read a lot of "series" mysteries (A is for..., The Cat Who...), and I haven't read many foreign language authors (and when I do, I worry about whether the translator used the right words). I read a lot, but I used to read a lot more! I am flirting with the idea of collecting out of print girls' series books, like the Sue Barton nurse series (but not ultra popular ones like Nancy Drew). They don't make 'em like those anymore (which is probably a good thing, but I still get nostalgic over it).