The typography workbook - timothy samara (5/5)

Summary: Quality introduction to typography and layout. Easy to follow with plenty of good examples. (5/5)

Although I've had no official design training I'm always fascinated by design in general and in awe of people who make good design look easy (like these guys). So in the constant attempt to improve my design quality I was recommended this book as a good intro/workbook and was not disappointed. The structure of the book is well laid out and easy to follow, with plenty of good design examples and, surprisingly enough, it was well laid out as well. And although it's a typography workbook Samara includes plenty of information on basic layout, grids and the like - lovely. Go get it if you need an intro to the world of type and layout.

The curious world of probabilities - jeffrey rosenthal (3/5)

An interesting analysis of how we use and abuse probablility in our daily lives. From how planes won't crash in general but we still worry they will (up-playing the downside in game theory), to why bumping into random people around the world is actually pretty likely (bumping into a single specific person is pretty unlikely but when you consider all the people you know in the world bumping into one is pretty common). Ultimately it's an interesting read, although a bit dry in places so not as compelling as many similar books.

Kafka on the shore - haruki murakami (5/5)

Beautiful, unnerving, compelling, poetic and mythic, Murakami's latest novel is one of his best by far following some of his classic plot lines but taking them in much stronger directions than he has for a while. Parallel worlds, strange coincidences and talking cats combined with a road tri pto save the world. Wow. A must read.

The Wages of Genius - Gregory Mone (2/5)

In this book an uber-intellectual postgraduate student gets enticed away from his cloistered college life into the heady, exciting world of dot com startups. There are certainly many interesting observations on the west coast lifestyle at this time, but the characters are not compelling and the story feels unresolved. Probably best as a beach read for when your startup fails.