By Any Other Nerd

The Delphinus Chronicles by Richard G. Roane My rating: 1 of 5 stars Note: This review was originally written in the early 2000s and published for a no longer running website: AudiobookCafe.  This review is of both the book and the audiobook. What happens when a computer becomes more powerful than it’s makers imagined? How does one deal with the fact that humans might not be the only highly intelligent being on Earth? What do you believe when startling evidence challenges everything you thought you knew about the history of humankind? The Delphinus Chronicles tackles these issues and more in this unabridged fictional book by R. G. Roane. Ross Ericson, a professor, and his gang of graduate students receive a super-computer that has mastered language comprehension and has become an identity unto itself. “Simon” as it is named, quickly learns to communicate with both humans and dolphins. And by doing so, it opens up communication between the two intelligent species. Ross and

Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore My rating: 3 of 5 stars Note: This review was originally written in the early 2000s and published for a no longer running website: AudiobookCafe.  This review is of both the book and the audiobook. Straight off the success of his documentary “Bowling for Columbine” and his last book “Stupid White Men”, Michael Moore delivers another book taking a hard look at the state of America. The three years since Bush has taken office have left many of us trying to figure out what’s going on. Four years ago, the country had a stable economy, jobs were available, people could rely on their pensions, and savings plans—oh yeah, and we weren’t at war. According to Michael Moore, the quintessential question is “Dude, where’s my country?” Granted, the September 11th attack certainly did change the course of the country—but Michael Moore believes much more so that our “great” leader George W. Bush has warped the country to his own frightful agen

So I'm finally getting back to writing about the stuff I've read over the last 2 months.  From June until now (and even now to a certain degree) has been an utter whirlwind.  While I definitely have been reading/listening, I have had little time to write about it.  So, here's what I've got to talk about this month.  There are a few books that I won't talk about because I'm pulling three books into a themed post on politics in the Trump presidency but I'll talk about the others and come back to that later as they need more detailed consideration and really fit as a trifecta of thought. The Twisted Citadel (DarkGlass Mountain, #2) by Sara Douglass The second book in the DarkGlass Trilogy, Douglass's final trilogy following the adventures of Axis and the characters in the world he inhabits.  I liked the book because like she always does, Douglass turns the prophecies she creates on their head and because we see a side of Ishbel that becomes increasing

Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order: The Final Years of the Vietnam War by Dan Dane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Note: This review was originally written in the early 2000s and published for a no longer running website: AudiobookCafe.  This review addresses both the book and the audiobook. When civil attorney, Bill Blake is drafted into the army, he leaves his wife and children behind to go to Vietnam. Once there, he does not fight a war, but is placed in the JAG Core—the lawyers who deal with justice within the military. They act as prosecutors or defense to military personnel who have committed various crimes. These crimes often mean court martial being in violation of “Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order”. The audiobook gives an account of the ten months Blake serves in Bien Hoa, dealing with his cases, his comrades, his superiors, and his evaluation of the war. While the book does have a beginning and an end (Blake arriving in Vietnam; Blake leaving Vietnam), the mid

Something definitely clicked this summer while working on a set of papers for my course in globalization in higher education.  The course was a very powerful and thought-provoking course that had my mind running in a million different directions. As the discussions continued to make me think critically about what higher education is and it's roles throughout the world, it led me to reconsider my work on open educational resources.   In the course, we were tasked with two papers:  a reflection paper and a term paper.  Though that is what I set out to do, it's not exactly what I ended up doing.  When it was all said and done, I had a paper discussing the potential global value of using open education as a means of reinventing higher education's mission to be a public good and a paper discussing that the open education movement is or at least can be understood in some ways as a part of a coercive practice of neoliberal capitalism.  It was a fun time to say the least. Ok,

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding My rating: 3 of 5 stars Note: This review was originally written in the early 2000s and published for a no longer running website: AudiobookCafe.  This review addresses both the book and the audiobook. Bridget Jones is that dear friend that we all know who manages to somehow just mess things up, without even trying. A social klutz to no end, but you can’t help but to smile and love the poor girl. For those who read (or listened, or watched) the first book, Bridget Jones Diary, you’ll remember the story ends with Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy in a typical “Happily Ever After” scenario. “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” picks up shortly after that and asks “What does happen in happily ever after?” The couple gets together in the third act, but what happens in the fourth act? Helen Fielding answers this by showing the listener that happily ever after does not always work out the way we expected. We find dear Bridget still

May was a much more active month as it relates to reading because, well, the semester was over and I had a whole lot of downtime to which I filled it with reading...mostly because, I like busman's holidays !  There were so many good reads this month so I've got a lot to talk about! The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal We all carry with us various myths about what willpower is, our relationship with it, and how to do better with it.  However, so many of our assumptions about willpower are often wrong in total or problematically applied because of a failure to understand what willpower is and its different forms.  McGonigal's provides a fantastic foundation to exploring and articulating willpower by breaking it into three different forms (I will, I won't, I want).  She guides readers through the science it has taken to better understand it from our historical or often racially, cult

Nina: Adolescence by Amy Hassinger My rating: 3 of 5 stars Note:  This review was originally written in the early 2000s and published for a no longer running website: AudiobookCafe.  This review addresses both the book and the audiobook. This audiobook is an endearing story about a young girl emerging into womanhood and the many expected and unexpected dilemmas that come with that growth. Most young women wage war with their self-image, but Nina not only battles with her own inner demons, she faces additional pressure with her naked body being publicly displayed. Her mother, a painter, has cataloged Nina's transformation from child to adult in a series of nude portraits that are being shown in a gallery. Nina also carries a burden-the guilt for the death of her younger brother, four years prior to the beginning of the story. Her lost brother is detrimental enough for her to become quite introverted. She does not have any friends in school-until she meets Raissa, a friend fro