Almost wordless: The sepia tones of the prairie are a small spot of color in an otherwise cloudy, rainy, dreary December.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
The Innovators
by Walter Isaacson
Narrated by Dennis Boutsikaris
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster | October 2014
Format: Audio CD, 17½ hours | Hardcover, 528 pages
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4½ of 5
From the Publisher
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson’s revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens.
Thoughts
After reading, and absolutely loving, Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, his new book about the people who were instrumental in the computer revolution was a must-read for me. Unlike the in-depth biography of Jobs, this was an expansive survey of the many individuals who played a part in the development of the tech world we know today.
Isaacson begins in the mid-1800s with one of the earliest innovators, the mathematician Ada Lovelace, poet Lord Byron’s daughter, and moves through history in a linear fashion to today’s internet. I was pleased to see Ada and other women pioneers – programmers during the Enigma code breaking period – getting their fair share of time in the book. An illustrated timeline is included in the front of the book, which is a helpful reference to have as the large number of people introduced in the book can be a little overwhelming at times, especially during the early years.
This is a very readable historical account for anyone interested in the subject, and is suitable even for those with only a moderate background in tech – and that’s most of us. If you use a computer, tablet, laptop, or smartphone, you already know the basics.
Unlike people born during the 80s who have not experienced a time without personal computers, I went to school in the 70s – a world that barely had pocket calculators much less mobile phones or PCs. I am still in awe of the tech revolution and found most of the book very relatable. The first half was an enlightening history lesson to for me, but once we arrived in the 1980s, it was a fun trip down memory lane as I revisited the ‘innovations’ I grew up with – 300 baud modems, bulletin boards, CompuServe, Gopher, dialing up AOL to access the internet, and my outrageously expensive computer with its 486DX2-66 processor and 8MB RAM. Yes, that’s MB not GB, but I digress.
While the book is not 100 percent inclusive, it’s an interesting and entertaining look at the people who had the most influence on the tech we use today. [Geek disclosure: I build my own computers and love to take things apart.]
Audio production
This was an easy book to listen to. Dennis Boutsikaris did a fine job on the narration with a pleasant voice and good pacing plus his ability to relate some of the funnier stories in an entertaining manner. In particular were a few tales about Bill Gates in his early high school and college days – I’m still laughing at those.
I find nonfiction very listenable and generally choose it over print. However, I also have the hardcover version of The Innovators for my personal library because this is a subject I will go back to again. The extras that are in the book are photos, the timeline and an index.
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Source: Review copy provided by Simon and Schuster
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Quiet Few Weeks
For the first time in the five years I’ve been writing this blog, I took a week off from posting. I wish I could say I was away on a vacation, but I was right here at home.
It was an unconscious decision. I have lots to write but didn’t feel like sitting down at the computer to do it. I’m blaming, in no particular order…
- Writer’s block
- Work
- Holiday distractions
- Foggy brain from the cold virus that won’t go away
- Haven’t seen sunshine in weeks – persistent clouds are keeping temps mild, but it’s oh so gloomy
- Most of the birds have migrated south.
Anyway, a few new books arrived last week and I have plenty of audio queued up to keep me busy. I was able to write some reviews yesterday and I may even get outside for a walk today.
Mailbox Monday
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
New Arrivals
The Room by Jonas Karlsson from Random House.
Funny, clever, surreal, and thought-provoking, this Kafka-esque masterpiece introduces the unforgettable Bjorn, an exceptionally meticulous office worker striving to live life on his own terms.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven from Random House.
The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.
The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen from Penguin.
In the tradition of Alan Furst, the #1 international bestselling author delivers his first stand-alone novel, a psychological thriller set in World War II Nazi Germany and 1970s England.
How was your week?
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© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Another quiet week on the blog. A nasty cold pretty much wiped out most of my energy for the week, so not much got done. Thankfully, it’s almost gone now. Here’s what arrived in my mailbox…
New Arrivals
Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester from Putnam.
Life and love lessons as told by sassy narrator Lillian as she looks back in this brilliantly written, bold debut. Lillian, a single, well-traveled woman of a certain age, wakes up next to her married lover and looks back at her life. It’s not at all the life she expected.
God Loves Haiti by Dimitry Elias Leger from Harper.
A story of romance, politics, and religion that traces the fates of three lovers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the challenges they face readjusting to life after an earthquake devastates their city.
How was your week?
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© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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A Rapid Review
Adultery by Paulo Coelho
Publisher: Random House Audio | August 2014
Format: Audio Download | 8 hours | Rating: 3 stars
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
A woman in her 30s begins to question the routine and predictability of her days. In everybody’s eyes, she has a perfect life: happy marriage, children, and a career. Yet what she feels is an enormous apathy. All that changes when she encounters a successful politician who had, years earlier, been her high school boyfriend…
I could not relate to Linda, the main character – not because she was unhappy, we all experience unhappy times, but because her solution was so extreme. A degrading affair? Yes, I thought it was a bit raw and unfulfilling. This was not a romance; this man was using her. And then she would have these long, soul-searching conversations with her husband. Really? Too often I felt like I was listening to man’s view of a women having a mid-life crisis.
I kept listening partly because the audio was good and I was hoping it would get better, but in the end I was left underwhelmed.
Audio production:
Susan Denaker narrates the story using quiet, even tones and steady pacing. The story is written in the first person and she did a nice job capturing the flat, depressed sounding Linda.
Audio Sample:
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Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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Woman With A Gun
by Phillip Margolin
Genre: Mystery / Suspense
Publisher: Harper
Publish Date: December 2014
Format: Hardcover | 320 pages
Rating: 5 of 5
About the Story
I usually quote a portion of the publisher’s blurb for a quick synopsis, but this one reads as if the story takes place in the present, and in a way it does by beginning and ending there, but in between are several time lines where the bulk of the story actually occurs and focus shifts to a different primary character…
We begin, briefly, in 2015…
When Stacey, an aspiring writer, decided to spend her lunch hour relaxing at an art exhibit, she never dreamed it would completely change her life. She had moved to New York thinking just being in the Big Apple would spur her creativity, but so far it was one boring day after another, toiling away at a dreary job as a receptionist to pay the bills. Everything changed when she saw a prize-winning photo of a woman on a beach holding a gun – there was a story behind that photo, and that would be her novel.
We jump back in time to 2005 and later to 2000 to learn the story behind the photo…
Photographer Kathy Moran is walking on the beach when she see a woman, wearing a white dress gazing, out over the water and holding a gun behind her back. She takes a photo and then offers help to the woman who appears dazed and in shock. We learn it was her wedding night and in a robbery at their home she was attacked and knocked unconscious. When she woke she found her husband dead. There are several suspects but the murder is never solved despite the efforts of prosecutor Jack Booth, who we will learn has a prior history with the photographer, Kathy, in the jump back to 2000.
Thoughts
It sounds complicated, but once the characters are established, the non-linear story line works well. We spend enough time in each period to understand the plot, develop the characters and pick up a few clues.
The mystery was compelling and the jumps in time felt seamless. The shifting points of view – Stacy in the present and Jack in the past – provided plenty of insight and revealed bits and pieces of the story. Photographer Kathy Moran and prosecutor Jack Booth are present throughout and tie the stories together with an eventual resolution of the mystery in the present time line.
I didn’t figure out who the killer was until the end, when enough information was revealed to understand the motive. Now, looking back and thinking about it – revenge, anger, greed – it all falls together. If you like a compelling mystery that keeps you guessing, this is a good choice.
For More Info
Facebook | Goodreads | Webpage | Tour Stops
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Source: Review copy provided by TLC Book Tours.
© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
The blog has been quite the past week – life and other obligations sometimes get in the way. I still have time to listen to some audio though. Here’s what arrived last week…
New Arrivals
Audio Downloads from Random House:
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
A fantastical illustrated short novel about a boy imprisoned in a nightmarish library.
Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-1928 by John Brooks.
A dramatic chronicle of the breathtaking rise, devastating fall, and painstaking rebirth of Wall Street in the years between the wars.
How was your week?
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© 2014 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
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