Economist Russ Roberts set a modest goal of writing a novel to illustrate the importance of prices in an economy, and hence our lives. Pedagogical fiction is tough, as the communicating what you want to teach can come at the expense of the art form. Yet Roberts does a good job with it, and the end of the book is quite poignant. His notes at the end are also well worth it.

For a taste, check out his podcast here. (Russ Roberts hosts a weekly podcast on ecomomics called EconTalk.) See also the Cato Institute even forum here and here for the first chapter.

My short blog post about this book is here:
http://www.wakalix.com/wp/2008/09/07/mistakes/

It’s not quality TV, but I loved it when I was 11 years old, and “the kid” inside of me still enjoys it.

I link to a summary of the book (60+ pages of quotes) and one of my favorites quotes is here.

This is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen from Netflix. The relationship between climate change (> 1 million years ago) and human evolution evolution was fascinating. It’s an interesting way of doing a documentary – actors play Neanderthals and other homo-[] who go about their lives according to the best guess of scientists analyzing fossil remains.

See this link for the BBC page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/tv_radio/wwcavemen

I would have enjoyed this book more had it been shorter. Seemed like filler in the last 2/3.

I’ve written a blog post about this book here.

This is an excellent and very brief book for practicing improvisers. It points out common pitfalls and how to get out of them with the proper mindset and fun exercises. It’s a very quick read, and worth it. See the following page for more:
http://fuzzyco.com/improv/books/improvising_better.html

Notes while I read this:

1. Rowling says it’s not a good idea to summon Kreacher, though Harry et al would like to know what’s going on. He might be accompanied by a bad guy “hanging on.” Then why not prepare for that by being ready to kill a bad guy if he comes along?

This leads to another observation: the “good guys” never seem to kill “bad guys” even when it’s self-defense.

2. Harry et al. have gone quite a long way w/o bothering to figure out what’s up with what Dumbledore left Harry. He tried to open it once, but not since. They’re sitting around wondering how to find the Horcruxes, but are not using these as clues. How long can Rowling use this as an open loop?

3. And why don’t wizards disapparate when they’re in a tight spot and about to be killed? For example, Harry’s parents? (OK, one of the pitfalls of having “magic” in the world…you have to set up boundaries to keep the plot going.)

I like the political commentary of bumbling bureaucrats more concerned with image than the job their supposed to be doing, and how government interferes with education.

I’m in Book 6 now, and it seems that Book 5 (this one) has a large hole in the plot concerning how Harry and Sirius communicate. But maybe this gets cleared up later.