10 of 10.
I read this book in nearly one sitting. I couldn't put it down. This book details the story of the conception, design, and implementation of the Windows NT OS. It's a great "from the trenches" report of what it must have been like to work on the project, and stars many familiar faces, not the least of which is Dave Cutler. Some DevDiv familiar show up, such as David Treadwell (was dev on WinSock, now VP for the .NET Framework) and S. Somasegar (was tester, now VP for DevDiv), among many Windows core architects who are still at the company today. It's out of print, but I found a like-new copy for a few bucks (yaay).

10 of 10.
λ! Who am I to rate such a classic book? This is the seminal work for all modern functional languages (LISP is modern, yes?). I had to read it twice... carefully... to follow everything. (Perhaps I'm slow?) But it's only 77 pages. The text covers α conversion, β reduction, and η conversion, in addition to normal and head normal forms. And the best part of all? It's very concise, not very wordy, and follows a nice, natural progression.

8 of 10.
This book is fun. It's a bit lighter on the math than I'd prefer, but nevertheless offers a great historical insight into the evolution of probability. It begins in the 1600s, and details its origins in mathematics and science, and -- surprise! -- its practical use as a tool for gamblers. Eventually it discusses impacts to more interesting parts of society, such as the development of an insurance industry, evaluation of new drugs, and combat and war. A welcome break from my typical computer nerd books.

8 of 10.
Ahhh, a book after my heart. A quote from the opening says it all:

I used to think math was no fun
'Cause I couldn't see how it was done
Now Euler's my hero
For I now see why zero
Equals e^πi + 1

The book details the historical development and importance of Euler's formula. Throughout, there is quite a bit of description-by-example by way of complex number mathematics, in addition to great historical accounts.

7 of 10.
First, let me admit: I was a little disappointed by the broad title and relative narrow focus of the text. While some correlation is drawn between evolution, extinction, and economics, most of the book is spent describing why uncertainty in business--and the aparrent disregard for such uncertainty in commonplace naive business theory--leads to failure. He also uses examples from game theory on other related topics to draw such conclusions. The book should have been much longer, as I found myself at the end wondering, did I miss some big pieces? With that said, much of it is unique content backed by real research, so I'm sure developing the ideas took quite a bit of time.

6 of 10.
I don't think I learned a whole lot from this particular book, but it was at least entertaining to read. I brought it along with me on a trip, and liked the format: Short, concise, often under 5-page essays on some topic in computer science. While I was traveling, this enabled me to pick it up and read an entire essay when I had only a brief period of time. The topics do range quite dramatically, and the content is a little "dumbed down," but it is a great coffee table addition.

8 of 10.
OK, this is definitely the odd book out. But I read it in about a day and a half, last weekend, and couldn't put it down. The book really isn't as much about coffee as it is about the author's crazy travels from Africa to Yemen to Europe and back to the US, in search of the "local brews." Quite a bit of historical insight is given, and it's a fun ride. I enjoyed it, and it was a much needed break from the techno babble and funny symbols. :)