The Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman.
A book that makes you consider how products and machines in our world are designed, but really geared more towards user interface or product designers. Nothing really about visual communication although the design principles are the same. And the research/know your target audience/diverge/converge ideas are all the same. Interesting nonetheless, especially the parts about human error and how humans are bound to make errors - it should be the machine's fault for allowing human errors to happen.
The litigators - John Grisham.
It's like a classic hero's tale as a big time lawyer quits his job to work in a struggling boutique firm. I seem to have read almost all of John Grisham's books already. :( Haha it was a great read but played out a bit predictably, like watching a movie when you know the ending will be happy.
Up Against It - M.J. Locke.
Quite interesting science fiction book with very dramatic descriptions of life on an asteroid. Long read though. But quite standard science fiction tropes just blended together well (transhumanism, resource management, artificial intelligence, that kind of thing)
Bagombo Snuff Box - Kurt Vonnegurt.
It's Vonnegurt! I'm probably going to finish all of his and Ray Bradbury's books soon at the rate I'm reading. But this collection of short stories are quite an easy read. Most stories can be finished (and forgotten about) in one sitting. Still awesome.
Steel Beach - John Varley.
Considering that it was written and published in 1993, this book probably had/still has many controversial ideas. Haha including constant gender changes by the protagonist which makes you wonder if the author has a hidden agenda. But other than the interesting opening sentence, it was a great story with a good enough conclusion and many plot twists and turns. Haha what a nonsense review you must be thinking, this guy is describing all books. But anyways if you like reading about what life might be like on the moon and what would happen if an alien race invaded the earth but left the moon colony alone (this point is never resolved in the book by the way) and reading a bit into motivations behind suicide and what drives us as individuals or as a species. Then this book is for you. I would think this book is better than Up Against It above haha oops.
While Mortals Sleep - Kurt Vonnegurt.
Another Vonnegurt? More short stories again. I feel like short stories are akin to watching short videos on youtube (especially comedy sketch videos hah). They get the point across in the shortest amount of time and yet the point is made strongly (or even stronger due to it's brevity). I liked what the introduction said about Vonnegurt being the moral voice of our time (although he's no longer around). Stories nowadays tend to be post-modernist, nobody-is-right-or-wrong-ist, gray area ambiguous interpretation, guess what the author is saying. Vonnegurt's stories have a strong moral ending (which is not necessarily right, but not necessarily wrong either ayy haha). Like the old fairy tales or children's stories where the moral of the story is do good. But Vonnegurt's morals aren't that explicit, you know it's there, but you still needa find it. Anyway, I'm rambling.
Steel Beach - John Varley.
Considering that it was written and published in 1993, this book probably had/still has many controversial ideas. Haha including constant gender changes by the protagonist which makes you wonder if the author has a hidden agenda. But other than the interesting opening sentence, it was a great story with a good enough conclusion and many plot twists and turns. Haha what a nonsense review you must be thinking, this guy is describing all books. But anyways if you like reading about what life might be like on the moon and what would happen if an alien race invaded the earth but left the moon colony alone (this point is never resolved in the book by the way) and reading a bit into motivations behind suicide and what drives us as individuals or as a species. Then this book is for you. I would think this book is better than Up Against It above haha oops.
While Mortals Sleep - Kurt Vonnegurt.
Another Vonnegurt? More short stories again. I feel like short stories are akin to watching short videos on youtube (especially comedy sketch videos hah). They get the point across in the shortest amount of time and yet the point is made strongly (or even stronger due to it's brevity). I liked what the introduction said about Vonnegurt being the moral voice of our time (although he's no longer around). Stories nowadays tend to be post-modernist, nobody-is-right-or-wrong-ist, gray area ambiguous interpretation, guess what the author is saying. Vonnegurt's stories have a strong moral ending (which is not necessarily right, but not necessarily wrong either ayy haha). Like the old fairy tales or children's stories where the moral of the story is do good. But Vonnegurt's morals aren't that explicit, you know it's there, but you still needa find it. Anyway, I'm rambling.
