Engaging recollections of a Norfolk country life in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, at the turn of the 19th Century. An enjoyable read with a few entertaining anecdotes, although the sum of the tales didn't add up to a wholly satisfying book. I felt a bit more could have been made of the tales to shed more light on the fascinating life of the man whose tales they were.
An elegant & evocative description of whether the wild exists anymore in the UK & if it does, what characterizes it. The author makes his way to some remote, & not so remote corners of the British Isles & Ireland, & records his feelings & experiences. It might not sound like much but it nicely captures & reinforces the virtues of being outside & of reconnecting with the outside world. It's something that is often preached about as being a good thing without it being obvious why: this book helps explain why. He interweaves all this with some history & some very personal memories which, for me, made it much more than just a description of the places he visited.
Interesting discussion on why & how enterprise-level software architecture can & should contribute to the overall success of a business, but often doesn't. As such it's high-level & without any discussion of implementation technology but is very stimulating & refreshing as a consequence. Invaluable for every software developer who wants to appreciate the business consequences & contributions of the code he or she writes.
Blistering satire on India's economic miracle which, through the eyes of a lowly chaffeur, exposes many of the truths behind the hype. It gripped me pretty much from the first page, I also found the insight into India & its culture interesting as it's not something I knew much about before. The skeptic in me always doubts the praise heaped on books nominated for various awards but I couldn't argue with the awards this one has garnered (the Man Booker prize 2008), consequently it's a 5 out of 5 from me too.
Seminal work on the practical implementation of patterns in architecture. The first section is a very illuminating & conversational discussion on when & why to implement patterns, which almost its own makes this book a worthy purchase. The second section is an in-depth dissection of each of the discussed software patterns, probably much more useful as a reference.
Commonsense book describing the principles of agile software development & some ideas of how to implement it. Even though it's mostly theoretical the examples from other industries, as well as IT, stimulate thinking along practical lines. A very worthwhile read when contemplating adoption of Agile practices.
Fascinating account of a man's obsession with 'Big Listing' as many of the world's 10,000 bird species as possible. His son, the author, details how the obsession grew in relation to personal family occurrences like divorce & ill-health. Often I found that these intense personal recollections overshadowed further exploration of the commitment & dedication (not to mention the logistics) of the people, like the author's father, who strive to see thousands of species of birds. So, a book as much about a family as about ornithology & consequently slightly lacking in both.