Perlkönig

The books I read, the music I listen to, and the games I play

“Ex Libris” by Anne Fadiman

Rating: 3/3. Absolutely delightful! My uncontrollable laughter made people on the bus stare at me. This is a tremendous group of essays on a family’s obsession with words, books, and reading. It will only take a few hours to read, and you will not regret it. Go read it now.

“Manufacturing Consent” by Herman and Chomsky

Rating: 1.5/3. If you’re a news hound or are particularly interested the subject of media objectivity, I’m sure you’ll get something out of the book (though it would help if you were at least 50 years old). Otherwise, read the summary quote in the post itself, ponder it for a bit, and then move on to find a different book on the subject. You’ll probably find this one a little painful.

“Chicago Manual of Style,” 16th ed.

Rating: 3/3. As its title suggests, CMOS is a style guide. Well, not just a style guide, but the style guide—the biggest, most comprehensive, and perhaps most referenced and best known of them all. This is a must-have reference work for anyone that works with text.

“Panic Virus” by Seth Mnookin

This book is a history of both vaccination itself and its opponents. The take-away message is that the media is not the place to go for truly balanced and accurate information about science and health. They are far more interested in ratings and catchy headlines than truth. Epidemiology is not something you can just pick [...]

“Recipe Writer’s Handbook” by Ostmann and Baker

Rating: 2/3. If you’re putting together a cookbook of any kind, this is an excellent reference for how to approach it. It has a tremendous bibliography that I’m looking forward to culling through. So while the book is not for everybody, if you’re interested in recipes and cookbooks, pick it up at your local library and take a look.

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  • Who am I?

    My name is Aaron Dalton. See the "About Me" link for more information. The name Perlkönig is a combination of my favourite programming language (Perl) and the title of one of Franz Schubert's most famous lied (Erlkönig).

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