Tal Cohen's Bookshelf: A Collection of Personal Opinions about Books

Fiction

Science Fiction

Non-Fiction

Computer Science

Book In-Jokes
The Fiction Collection
“I wonder... What's in a book while it's closed... Because as soon as I open it, there's a whole story with people I don't know yet and all kinds of adventure and deeds and battles... All those things are somehow shut up in a book. But it's already there, that's the funny thing. I just wish I knew how it could be.”
Michael Ende, The Neverending Story

The Science Fiction Collection
“A wild dream and a far one -- but no wilder and no farther than some of the dreams of man.”
Clifford D. Simak, City

The Non-Fiction Collection
“That's the reason they're called lessons: because they lessen from day to day.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The Computer Science Collection
“Think of a computer program. Somewhere, there is one key instruction, and everything else is just functions calling themselves, or brackets billowing out endlessly through an infinite address space. What happens when the brackets collapse? Where's the final “END IF”? Is any of this making sense?”
Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

Book In-Jokes

Here I try to maintain a list of book in-jokes: little jokes that most readers won't notice, hidden in otherwise serious books (for more about what "in-jokes" are, see at the end of the list).

I'll need your help: if you find any such in-jokes, let me know. Please include the word “injoke” in the subject.

The books are listed in no particular order.


Book Reviews / Read Log Book Reviews: Fiction Science-Fiction Book Reviews Non-Fiction Book Reviews Computer Science Book Reviews
[2008-06-11]

An interview with Prof. Douglas R. Hofstadter about his book I am a Strange Loop: regarding souls, immortality, science fiction and much more.
[Non-Fiction]
Read more... Comments so far: 64

[2006-12-04]

It’s not a book about chess, it’s a book about applying game theory to everyday life: Thinking Strategically promises its readers a “competitive edge”, but does it deliver?
[Non-Fiction]
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[2005-11-28]

It sometimes reads like 1984, but one must bear in mind that Reading Lolita in Tehran is not an allegory.
[Non-Fiction]
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[2004-02-05]

John Lukacs’ new biography of Churchill, titled Churchill: Visionary. Statesman. Historian, reads like a groupie’s diary.
[Non-Fiction]
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[2003-03-13]

Networks are a familiar concept in computer science, but in his book Linked: The New Science of Networks, Albert-L??szl?³ Barab??si claims that networks are to be found everywhere — and can lead to new perspectives in many fields of research. Reviewed by guest reviewer Pravin Shankar.
[Non-Fiction]
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[See earlier reviews]
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