My wife is genuinely surprised when I walk out of a bookstore without buying anything. If and when I get a Kindle DX, I can't imagine what it will be like when I can buy anything anytime I want from virtually anywhere. My only saving grace is the fact that most technical books aren't as steeply discounted. I'd love to know what anyone thinks of the Kindle DX once they get their hands on one. Tweet me: chrisostrowski
Anyway, on to part 2:
Google Apps Hacks - (4 stars out of 5) - All the Hacks books are fun to read with enough info to keep it fun. Unfortunately, most of the hacks I probably would never use.
Facebook for Dummies - (****) - My friend Melissa (24 years old) gets genuinely upset that I have a Facebook page; OK, I'll admit that I didn't get it at first, but it's fun, in a slightly annoying sort of way. The book itself it pretty good, but like Facebook itself, it's scattered all over the place.
Building Facebook Apps for Dummies - (***) - It seemed like a good idea at the time - a new development platform (if you want to call it that) where you could easily create apps that could help people connect, but like everything else in Facebook, the development environment is a hodgepodge mess. That's not the author's fault, of course - but it's one of the first books I'll be donating to the library the next time it comes for me to do some spring cleaning.
Head First Software Development - (****1/2) - I'm biased, but once your try developing software using Agile methods, you won't be able to go back. The Head First series books are all great; I only wish it focused on Agile more.
Cutting Edge Powerpoint 2007 for Dummies - (***) - Another book set to go to the library. Not a bad book, mind you, just didn't live up to its title.
GooglePedia - (***1/2) - Tough to rate. Google is making so many cool tools available so fast, things go out of date pretty quickly. A solid read.
Outlook 2007 Business Contacts Manager - (****) - Another tough one to rate. As usual, Microsoft makes things way more complicated than they need to. I use my iTouch to keep all of my contacts in sync and I thought the Business Contacts Manager would make my life easier, but it's clunky (why did I expect anything else)? The book spends too much time on features most people would never use, but it's very good otherwise.
A Father's Journal - (****) - Not a technical book at all, but a journal with questions at the top of each page and a blank page below it to write your thoughts with the intent of passing it on to your son or daughter some time in the future. If it wasn't for my horrible handwriting, it would be awesome.
A Hacker's Guide to Project Development - (*****) - Very hard to find, but very worthwhile. A little dated, as it focuses on traditional waterfall project development, but a very fun and informative book.
Peopleware - (*****) - A classic in the software development world. Every bit as relevant today as when it was written.
The Mythical Man Month - (*****) - Another classic. Along with Peopleware, a must read for anyone serious (i.e. a career in software development) about developing software or managing people who develop it.
Google Powered - (****) - I mistakenly thought I could get away with getting rid of all of my Microsoft software a little while ago. Probably not in this lifetime, buddy, but still pretty amazing what Google can do in a Web browser. Put together with Google Hacks, a very complete package to using most of the Google tools.
Expression Web for Dummies - (****) - Another one destined for the library. Again, not a bad book, but once you use Dreamweaver, every other HTML tool pales in comparison.
Office 2007 for Dummies - (***) - Once I got Office 2007, I really thought I needed a good reference for all of the new interface features MS Stuck in there. Wrong - the book spends WAY too much time waxing poetic on features I'm guessing 95% of Office users will never, ever, ever use.
Visually Teach Yourself Powerpoint 2007 - (***) - Here's the paradox: with PowerPoint you can create really complex presentations, but many times, all of that extra stuff distracts your audience from the message you're trying to get across. Again, it's not the author's fault, but some of the advanced stuff in here is counter intuitive to the process of making a really good presentation. Not to make this into a MS-bashing blog, but Keynote from Apple is way easier to use.
Business Intelligence for Dummies - (****) - When I picked this one up off the bookshelf in the bookstore, I didn't have high hopes. Some topics just don't seem to lend themselves to "Dummies" types of books, but this one is surprising in its ability to make complex concepts seem simple.
Essential System Administration - (***1/2) - Another tough one to review. A little long in the tooth and with all of the variations of Unix and Linux out there, you may not be able to find exactly what you're looking for.
Professional Apache - (****1/2) - Still the best Apache book out there, but virtually no 2.0 stuff, so be warned.
- Oski
