From b745f2a5267fbeb879b1ce4e827eebab08f43b83 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Julio Biason Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2019 09:00:44 -0300 Subject: [PATCH] Added missing books --- .../books/handson-microservices-with-rust.md | 51 +++++++++++++++++++ .../books/the-where-the-why-the-how.md | 37 ++++++++++++++ content/reviews/books/the-wolfs-hour.md | 40 +++++++++++++++ 3 files changed, 128 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/reviews/books/handson-microservices-with-rust.md create mode 100644 content/reviews/books/the-where-the-why-the-how.md create mode 100644 content/reviews/books/the-wolfs-hour.md diff --git a/content/reviews/books/handson-microservices-with-rust.md b/content/reviews/books/handson-microservices-with-rust.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b225417 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/handson-microservices-with-rust.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ ++++ +title = "Hands-On Microservices with Rust - Denis Kolodin" +date = 2019-03-03 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["reviews", "books", "en-au", "rust", "microservices", "denis kolodin"] ++++ + + + +{{ stars(stars=2) }} + +The shortest and simpler way to describe this book is this: +```rust +let mut a = 1; +a = a + 1; +// increase a +``` + +Sure, increasing `a` may seem interesting, but where the heck is the +explanation on why you're increasing a? + +The long version is this: this is an exact representation of what a Packt book +is. There are a bunch of grammatical errors from the half of the book to the +end, which should've picked by the editor; there are a bunch of weird +explanations and the incredible tendency of use a different package on each +project (one project uses Hyper, the other Rocket, the other Actix-Web) which +should've been picked by the reviewer; the whole book have a bunch of what the +code is doing, but not why it was designed that way. + +So the whole thing feels rushed and without thought. + +The "change package on each discussion" is also damming: you never really got +deep into a package, understanding its ins and outs, because it keeps changing +all the time (logs is another thing that keeps changing all the time in the +code, which seems really weird when you want to have a fleet of microservices +-- why would you use different packages on all of them; yes, you can do this +due the nature of microservices, but does it make sense?). + +Also, no code is shown in completion. The book uses snippets all around instead +of showing everything. The full code is available on Github, but that means you +need to keep two sources open at the same time: one in the book, to follow +whatever the author is showing and the source code to understand where each +thing fall in the big picture. + +Those two last points could be easily solved by starting with a simple code +(say, the Hyper that says "Hello world") and then, slowly, refactor it to reach +a fully asynchronous code, showing the full code with each refactor +highlighted. + +Maybe this will be a good book in the 3rd edition. diff --git a/content/reviews/books/the-where-the-why-the-how.md b/content/reviews/books/the-where-the-why-the-how.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10856c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/the-where-the-why-the-how.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ ++++ +title = "The Where, the Why, and the How: 75 Artists Illustrate Wondrous Mysteries of Science - Matt LaMothe, Julia Rothman, Jenny Volvovski, David Macaulay" +date = 2019-02-17 + +[taxomonies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "en-au", "science", "illutations", "matt lamothe", "julia rothman", "jenny volvovski", "david macaulay"] ++++ + +A science book like no other, The Where, the Why, and the How turns loose 75 of +today's hottest artists onto life's vast questions, from how we got here to +where we are going. Inside these pages some of the biggest (and smallest) +mysteries of the natural world are explained in essays by real working +scientists, which are then illustrated by artists given free rein to be as +literal or as imaginative as they like. The result is a celebration of the +wonder that inspires every new discovery. Featuring work by such contemporary +luminaries as Lisa Congdon, Jen Corace, Neil Farber, Susie Ghahremani, +Jeremyville, and many more, this is a work of scientific and artistic +exploration to pique the interest of both the intellectually and imaginatively +curious. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +(This is getting quite common on my reviews but) This is a weird book. + +Now, don't get me wrong: The idea the title gives is that they are going to +give you the where, the why and the how, but they actually mean the questions +"where", "why" and "how". A lot of the answers is, basically, "we don't know +yet" -- which, by the way, is completely fine, specially when dealing with +proper science. + +Also, the questions are not really "trivia"-like: they go more deep than simply +"Why are plants green?" and the like. And, because you have no certain +questions, it gets even more nerd-like -- which, again, is completely fine. + +(Also, the illustrations: meh) diff --git a/content/reviews/books/the-wolfs-hour.md b/content/reviews/books/the-wolfs-hour.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..add6a0e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/the-wolfs-hour.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ ++++ +title = "The Wolf's Hour - Robert R. McCammon" +date = 2019-02-16 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "en-au", "werewolves", "robert r mccammon"] ++++ + +Michael Gallatin is a British spy with a peculiar talent: the ability to +transform himself into a wolf. Although his work in North Africa helped the +Allies win the continent in the early days of World War II, he quit the service +when a German spy shot his lover in her bed. Now, three years later, the army +asks him to end his retirement and parachute into occupied Paris. A mysterious +German plan called the Iron Fist threatens the D-Day invasion, and the Nazi in +charge is the spy who betrayed Michael’s lover. The werewolf goes to France for +king and country, hoping for a chance at bloody vengeance. + + + +{{ stars(stars=3) }} + +This is truly a weird book. + +So you take the idea of mythical creatures like werewolfs. And you take great +events in history, like World War II. And then you mix both. + +In one hand, the book is almost silly in its premise. And, as if it was a 60s +spy movie, it makes the hero always get the girl -- which is narrated almost as +a horny teenage vision of what sex could be. + +On the other hand, there is a bunch of what seems real information: Locations, +dates, aircrafts, guns you name it. It's almost as the author really did some +research on geography and history about WWII events. + +This dichotomy permeates the book in every place. The very beginning of the +book reminded of a site that gathered the most absurd adverbs: "like a ghost in +the night" and the like. So, at the very start, it feels like it is a bad book, +but then you get what seems like real events happening (with a touch of what +was done in Assassin's Creed series of games) and then it seems like a real +book. And then you get the horny parts and it goes back to silly.