Elegant Universe - Brian Greene

The Ultimate Geek book for me this week. How did I first hear about Elegant Universe? It takes me all the way back to the first time I was in Texas, during my Junior year of high school. My mom mentioned, as we were walking through Barnes & Noble one day, that this book The Elegant Universe was getting a lot of attention. It was sitting on a table, so I picked it up and bought it. I was a geek in high school, and was missing my math/science/computer program that I had left in Michigan when we moved to Texas. So I thought this would make me feel better. Well, soon after we found out/must have found on TV the NOVA program that they made about the book. I was mesmerized by the theoretical possibilities of string theory, and the pictures that it created of our universe.

As the years have gone by, I have watched that NOVA program [and even bought it at one point] over and over again. Usually during the times when I have been sick on the couch. Brian Greene actually came to BYU one year to do a forum. My room mate didn't tell me until after that he was in the Bookstore signing books. I will forever kick myself for not getting my book signed. But I never read the book, which I had carried around for years, from one apartment to the next -- always meaning to read it one day.

Well, that day has come. I picked it up, and decided that 6 years was enough time for me to finally read this darn book. So I did. I was surprised on two accounts. First of all, I was surprised how dense the book was. Brian Greene is an amazingly intelligent man, and yet tries to write about theoretical physics in such a way that an "ordinary" person could read it. [And by ordinary, I mean a person who has a serious science background, and can understand quantum mechanics] He doesn't dumb it down too much, but uses enough analogies and metaphors to help paint the picture. It still was pretty intense, even without a majority of the math. The second way the book surprised me was how much I actually understood it. I got maybe 75-85% of the stuff, even after not taking a real science class since high school. [I will never count Physical Science 100 as a real science class. Never.]

I really enjoy Brian Greene, who has tried hard to explain a field that many would deem "too smart for the average person". He has two books, one that just came out that continue to explore string theory and the implications of this theory on the universe. Hopefully it won't take 6 years for me to read them, now that I've got one under my belt.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

The Audacity to Win - David Plouffe

I was not kind to myself, was I? All these books for the month of January speak to an innately geeky side of me. I don't remember how I heard about this book -- probably the same election class. But I got geeked that Obama's campaign manager was writing a book about how they won the election. It was a momentous election season, so I was really excited about this book. Then I heard what he wanted to call it - The Audacity to Win. A BRILLIANT title! I laughed openly when I read the title. A real hit to those who thought this election was a joke.

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read the i
inside thoughts of a winning election, let alone one that had to defy so many obstacles. It wasn't like the Race to 270 book where they looked at it from a strategic nature. But it did explain a few of the ways in which Obama's staff ran a different campaign.

It doesn't air a lot of dirty laundry, which is nice. But I also get the feeling that it is similar to a history book - the winner gets to write it. Maybe it is a sense of cynicism, or what I hope is a sense of realism, is that it wasn't all fine and dandy as it was written in the book. The decisions I doubt were as clean as they were, or that the team was as confident/sure of themselves/or at times as humble. I take this book with a grain of salt, but it still is an excellent book.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 stars

The Race to 270 - Daron Shaw

In that Fall Semester that I took Campaign and Elections, I found my love of electoral strategy. The American electoral process is a unique thing. Our national leader is not elected by a popular vote of the people - the Founding Father took it one step away from them by implementing the Electoral College. So in reality, you don't simply focus on getting 51% of the vote in the country. Instead, you focus on 50 separate contests where you want to get 51% of the vote. And each of those different contests look just ever so different from the next.

This book is the final piece to my completely balanced election reading. This one was written by one of Bush's advisers for his 2000 & 2004 elections. But this book was an academic view point. It felt like being in school again, reading articles and chapters. I actually *was supposed to* read a chapter of this book for my class, and used it again on a paper the next semester. It is interesting to read because for the first time, a campaign strategist actually laid out the campaign's electoral strategy. Not just the basic, 'we're going after the Latino vote'. But it actually laid out their state thinking, what states were Red, slightly Red, Battleground, slightly Blue, and Blue.

Strategy is what interests me, so actually getting an insider's view of what it actually looked like was really interesting. It was an academic book, so it was dense and full of jargon/statistics. I had to pull out my PLSC 321 knowledge, which I had forever banished to the completely useless part of my brain.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Game Change - John Heilemann & Mark Halperin

I am a Political Science major. I love politics, I really do. There is something about it. Now, that does not mean I will become a politician, or really do anything with politics in my future -- but I still love reading about it. And in particular, presidential elections.

During the 2008 primary season, I commandeered the television in my apartment every night to watch the news. My room mates were understanding enough not to invite people over for the first hour that I was home because I was usually talking to myself during the broadcast - whether or not I agreed with the commentary, etc. Then during the actual election, I took a Campaign and Election class. I planned my schedule accordingly to take it that Fall. If I did do anything with politics, it would be elections.

So when this book, Game Change came out I know I would sooner or later have to read it. I chose the 'latter' option, because I heard this was more of a 'tell all' kind of coverage of the election. And personally I am not a fan of reading about other people's dirty laundry. I like the strategy, not the muck. But after finding a really good deal on a copy, I picked it up and decided to finally read it.

2/3 of the book was about the Clinton/Obama slug fest. The remainder of the book was about Palin. It was interesting to read about the election from a 'non-biased' view point. One of the other books that I own on the subject is written by Obama's camp, so it was nice to round out the discussion.

It was exactly how I thought it would be. The airing of other people's laundry. Very little strategy.

However it was interesting to get a different spin on the Obama camp, to get some of the picture of the fight which is just ever so slightly different from outside of the winner's circle.

Final Score: 3 out of 5 stars

The Elements - Theodore Gray

The first book of the month. And already I have to admit my total geekiness.

There once was an iPad commercial.

I used to love this commercial. Okay ... I still love it.

But the part of the commercial I would like to draw your attention to is the "scientific" portion. The part where for a second you are looking at the Element app. I WANT that app ... badly.

But once again, I digress.

That app is based on a book that just came out. For those geniuses out there, you probably figured out the title of the book ... The Elements. I found in, after Christmas for an insanely good price, so I used my Christmas gift cards from my students to buy it.

And I love it.

It is a good book. Simply put this author has collected over the years a collection of an example [or more accurately, examples] of almost every known element.

I am a geek - so the science of matter, the chemistry, and such of the elements totally excites me. [I was in an accelerated math/science/computer program during my Freshman and Sophomore years. If I had continued in the program (i.e. not moved), I would most likely have gone on to study Chemistry in college] However, the pictures and quality of the book are breath taking enough to excite anyone. The book is printed on black, glossy paper, so every picture is crisp and free floating. It is a beautiful book. A good coffee table book if you have geeks in the house.

It's a quick read, only 150 pages or so. But lots of information, and lots of pictures.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Explanation

When I finished school last April, I was excited. The old school adage comes to mind ...

No more pencils
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks

No more 30 page papers, no more agonizing exams, no more late night writing sessions, no more early morning cramming study sessions.


I was done.


Then I went to work. And I have come to realize something.

I don't like work.

I like school.

I always have, even when I was bored ... I liked school. Now I don't like the drama or the politics of school. But I like the discussion, the learning, the expounding my limited knowledge to something a little less limited.

Any way. So after "going back to school" [i.e. teaching preschool] I realized I had to do something or my mind was going to turn to mush. I realized that if I ever wanted to go back to school, and not lose a beat in trying to reacquaint myself with reading intense material or even thinking on a higher playing field, I would have to do something to keep my mind sharp.

Therefore when January rolled around, and it was time to make new resolutions, I added this little beauty to my list.

Read 5 books a month.

60 books in 2011.

I like a variety of books, and have always been a lover of books. There may have been times that I even used to sleep with books/say good night to particular books. I get it from my mother, who in our last move demanded a library - and it is bursting at the seams with all the books she has collected over the years. I love that library. It makes me feel happy. It doesn't just have novels -- it is full with a variety of subjects: academics, gospel related topics, the Classics, children books, everything!

But I digress.

I have made it my goal this year to read 5 books. And it will be a variety - books I love, books I have wanted to read, books I should read, and everything in between. They will also cover a variety of subjects and genres, just because I am that weird.

Why am I explaining my thinking on this blog? An excellent question.

I'm going to document every book I read on this blog. My thoughts, my review. The basics. They won't be literary analyzes of the texts, but they will be my honest thoughts about them.

So ... let's begin.