Aleksandra Kresoja Kresoja itibaren Baramulla
Most stuff in this book I already knew (90%). But hearing it in a cohesive story is a great way to fodder new ideas - if you wanna think about the internet and where its going, its a great primer - and a quick read too. Hearing the the Goto/Overture story was interesting. While it sounds obvious, its an impressive insight by Bill Gross that traffic with an intent (ie search traffic) is worth more than random traffic, and that if you played arbitrage in the middle you could make a lot of money. I like it when people can do math :) I didn't know Google started in a garage. I learned more about Google's battle to stop SEO spammers. They usually change their algorithm to do this, which of course ends up screwing over legit businesses too - these legit businesses actually name each algorithm change like they were hurricanes - 'Florida' was when Google changed their algorithm on nov 14, 2003.
I reviewed this book for Time Magazine a couple of years ago. I think I used the word "wee ones" in it. Anyway, the book is one of those "Women Can't Do Everything" stories. The main character is a financier who has a child and everything goes to hell. It's not groundbreaking, but I thought story was told well without being excessively moralistic.
This was not at all what I was expecting. It's like the lightness and sass of Sookie Stackhouse meeting the talking-to-dead-people and grimness of Harper Connelly, if you want to draw a paranormal parallel. Charley is a private investigator who occasionally helps the Albuquerque Police Department. She's also THE grim reaper. I think the strongest part of this book was the characters - her uncle, her assistant, her assistant's daughter, and the various dead people she deals with every day, from high profile lawyers to a 13-year-old gang member. The romance angle appears in the form of a supernatural being who is never physically there. It's very strange, and it almost feels like it was thrown in because some sex is required. It seemed much more a meeting of bodies than a meeting of minds. Then there's the big surprise when his identity is revealed (you will never see this coming in a million years), which promises to take this series in a much different direction. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Sadly, I think I would have loved this without the romance angle complicating the plot. There are ways to add romance without pulling so much away from the plot's momentum. Still, I'm hoping the second book will be more focused, because it's a great concept with great characters.